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PILOT KNOB 



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PILOT KNOB 

The Thermopylae of the West 



BY 

CYRUS A. PETERSON 

AND 

JOSEPH MILLS HANSON 




NEW YORK 

THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1914 



■ 

7* 



Copyright, 1914, by 
The Neale Publishing Company 



FEB 16 1914 



DEDICATED 
TO THE MEMORY OF 

THE GALLANT VOLUNTEER SOLDIERS 

OF THE UNION 

AND 

THE LOYAL CITIZENS 

WHO FELL IN DEFENSE OF HOME AND COUNTRY 

AT PILOT KNOB AND DURING THE 

SUBSEQUENT RETREAT 

TO LEASBURG 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface 9 

The Price Raid 17 

The Doniphan Scout 80 

Situation and Intentions of Opposing Forces 98 

The Fight in Arcadia Valley 106 

The Retreating Trains 116 

Preparations for Battle at Fort Davidson . 122 

The Struggle for the Gap 124 

The Confederates Close in on Fort Davidson 154 

Night on the Field of Battle 209 

The Evacuation 217 

In the Wake of Conflict 228 

From Caledonia of Leasburg 249 

The Defense of Leasburg 283 

Summary 311 



PREFACE 

In the following pages, — descriptive of the battle 
of Pilot Knob, Missouri, September 27, 1864, and 
of the operations immediately preceding and fol- 
lowing it, — a rather novel arrangement of material 
has been made. It is, however, an arrangement 
which in the judgment of the authors utilizes to the 
best advantage possible within the limits of a single 
volume the cream of the great mass of original data 
relating to this remarkable conflict, — data that has 
been collected with much care and effort by Doctor 
Peterson in the course of the past fifteen years. 
This material, consisting of more than one hundred 
personal narratives of survivors of the battle on the 
Union side, several accounts from men who served 
in the Confederate army, and a great quantity of 
correspondence, notes and memoranda bearing upon 
various details of the campaign, would, if used in 
their entirety, fill several large volumes. But a 
work of such magnitude, however valuable it might 
prove to the historical student, would obviously be 
too voluminous for the general reader, who is cer- 
tain to find more of interest in the many picturesque 
and stirring features of the struggle and in the 

9 



to PREFACE 

records of heroism, self-sacrifice, and suffering of 
the men who participated in it, than in a mere array 
of minute historical details. 

Therefore, after a preliminary chapter in which 
the battle of Pilot Knob is brought into correct 
perspective relation with the other events of the 
Missouri Raid of General Price, in 1864, extracts 
from the above-mentioned written narratives of 
survivors, — so arranged as to overlap one another 
as little as possible, — have been utilized almost ex- 
clusively in building up the history of the battle 
itself and the subsequent retreat from Pilot Knob 
to Leasburg. If it be objected that such a method 
of compiling history must result in a low or, at best, 
an uneven literary style, — inasmuch as the writers 
of many of these personal narratives and reminis- 
cences have been men totally unused to writing for 
publication, — it may be answered that after a lapse 
of nearly a half-century the recollections of such 
men, whose manhood was fused in the white-hot 
fires of the Nation's struggle for existence, have 
acquired for their countrymen of a later generation 
an interest and a significance far too great to be 
minimized by any mere blemishes upon their man- 
ner of narration. In these days of peace and ease 
and plenty it is well for us to contemplate now and 
then, — not through the eyes of the trained historian 
who winnows and balances all the data of the sub- 
ject before him, but through the sweat-dimmed and 



PREFACE il 

smoke-blinded eyes of actual participants, — the ex- 
ertions and heroisms and sufferings of some of the 
men who made possible our present age of material 
prosperity. 

Sometimes discrepancies or contradictions in de- 
tail may appear in the various stories; but it must 
be remembered that in the uproar and confusion 
of battle no soldier in the ranks nor any company 
officer can see everything that is going on even in 
his immediate vicinity, or, seeing, can always com- 
prehend it completely. Rumors and misapprehen- 
sions are always peculiarly rife at such times, and 
due allowance must be made for them. But these 
men all know, with a vividness of recollection which 
time cannot dim, what they themselves passed 
through; and in these personal experiences lie the 
lessons and the examples which are of paramount 
value today. 

On December 15, 1905, a tract of land about 
twenty acres in extent, — embracing the ruins of old 
Fort Davidson, the rifle-pits extending north and 
south from it, and the graves of most of those, 
especially Confederates, who fell in the battle, — 
was purchased by the Pilot Knob Memorial Associ- 
ation, and a battlefield park was established. It is 
the only Civil War battlefield west of the Missis- 
sippi River thus preserved from desecration at the 
present time. Its purchase, almost wholly by sub- 
scriptions from survivors of the battle and from 



12 



PREFACE 



patriotic citizens of St. Louis, Mo., indicates the 
veneration in which the field is held by the men who 
fought upon it and by those people of St. Louis 
who remember the disaster from which their beau- 
tiful city was saved by the heroic stand made there 
by a handful of Union soldiers and loyal citizens on 
that September day in 1864. 

The following works have been freely consulted 
and utilized in the preparation of the present 
volume : 

The "Official Records of the War of the Rebel- 
lion," especially Volume XLI, Series I ; "Battles 
and Leaders of the Civil War" (The Century Com- 
pany, New York) ; "Shelby and His Men," by John 
N. Edwards (Hudson-Kimberly Pub. Co., Kansas 
City, Mo., 1897) ; "The Civil War in the United 
States," by Benson J. Lossing; "Kansas Historical 
Collections," Vol. IX; "Regimental Losses in the 
American Civil War," by William F. Fox, Lt.-Col. 
U. S. V. (Joseph McDonough, Albany, New York, 
1898) ; "Annual Reports of the Pilot Knob Me- 
morial Association," and "The Reynolds Manu- 
script and Correspondence," now in possession of 
the Missouri Historical Society. 

Acknowledgment is due and is most gratefully 
tendered to the writers of all the personal narra- 
tives gathered together by Doctor Peterson and 
especially to the following persons from whose 
stories extensive quotations have been made, — quo- 



PREFACE 13 

tations that collectively form by far the greater part 
of the material of the present volume : 

Col. David Murphy, late adjutant, Forty-seventh 
Missouri Volunteer Infantry; M. Lynch, late engi- 
neer of the Iron Mountain Railroad ; Peter Shrum, 
late private, Co. I, Forty-seventh Missouri Volun- 
teer Infantry; Dr. Sam B. Rowe, late quartermas- 
ter-sergeant, Forty-seventh Missouri Volunteer In- 
fantry; James W. Nations, late private, Co. F, Fif- 
tieth Missouri Volunteer Infantry; Robert L. Lind- 
say, late captain, Co. F, Fiftieth Missouri Volunteer 
Infantry; Thomas C. Fletcher, Bvt. Brigadier- 
General, U. S. V., late colonel, Forty-seventh Mis- 
souri Volunteer Infantry; John H. Delano, late ser- 
geant-major, Forty-seventh Missouri Volunteer 
Infantry; Lewis W. Sutton, late sergeant-major, 
Fourteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry; W. V. Lucas, 
late captain, Co. B, Fourteenth Iowa Volunteer In- 
fantry; William J. Campbell, late captain, Co. K, 
Fourteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry; Hugo Hoff- 
bauer, late first lieutenant, Co. A, Fourteenth Iowa 
Volunteer Infantry; Smith F. Thompson, late first 
lieutenant, Co. D, Fourteenth Iowa Volunteer In- 
fantry; T. M. Montgomery, late second lieutenant, 
Battery H, Second Missouri Light Artillery ; James 
A. Shields, late sergeant, Co. M, Third Missouri 
State Militia Cavalry ; W. H. Smith, late first lieu- 
tenant, Co. L, Second Missouri State Militia Cav- 
alry; James C. Steakley, late sergeant, Co. K, Third 



i 4 PREFACE 

Missouri State Militia Cavalry; W. C. Shattuck, 
late first lieutenant, Co. I, Third Missouri State 
Militia Cavalry; John W. Hendrick, late captain, 
Co. C, Third Missouri State Militia Cavalry; Wil- 
liam H. Cameron, late corporal, Co. H, Third Mis- 
souri State Militia Cavalry; J. A. Rice, late second 
lieutenant, Co. L, Second Missouri State Militia 
Cavalry; H. B. Milks, late captain, Co. H, Third 
Missouri State Militia Cavalry; Azariah Martin, 
late sergeant, Co. H, Forty-seventh Missouri Vol- 
unteer Infantry; P. H. Harrison Hickman, late pri- 
vate, Co. H, Forty-seventh Missouri Volunteer In- 
fantry ; Edward A. Wilkinson, late sergeant, Co. 
H, Forty-seventh Missouri Volunteer Infantry; 
John W. Wynn, late private, Co. A, Third 
Missouri State Militia Cavalry; A. W. Maupin, late 
lieutenant-colonel, Forty-seventh Missouri Volun- 
teer Infantry; H. H. Williams, late major, Tenth 
Kansas Veteran Volunteers ; Marquis D. Smith, late 
captain, Co. L, Third Missouri State Militia Cav- 
alry ; T. W. Johnson, late a. a. surgeon, U. S. A. ; 
Rev. D. A. Wilson, and Mrs. C. J. Pitkin. 

Special acknowledgment must be made to H. C. 
Wilkinson, late sergeant, Co. H, Forty-seventh Mis- 
souri Volunteer Infantry, who, in 1903, made a 
careful survey of the battlefield of Pilot Knob, of 
the route of the retreat of its garrison to Leasburg, 
and of the scene of operations about the latter place. 
On his survey Mr. Wilkinson prepared the maps 



PREFACE 15 

of battlefields embodied in this volume, and also 
wrote an extensive diary of his journey, in which 
he brought out many interesting details of the cam- 
paign and many facts concerning participants 
therein which, unfortunately, it has been found im- 
possible to utilize within the limits of the present 
volume. Mr. Wilkinson's diary and his letters 
relative to the campaign, as well as all the personal 
narratives enumerated above, together with various 
others, will hereafter be in the custody of Mr. 
Thomas Ewing, Jr., Yonkers, Westchester County, 
N. Y., and Dr. C. A. Peterson, St. Louis, Mo., 
where they will be accessible to inquirers. 

Cyrus A. Peterson, 
Joseph Mills Hanson. 



PILOT KNOB 



THE PRICE RAID 

To the State of Missouri the great raid of the 
Confederate General Price, in the autumn of 1864, 
was something of what Benedict Arnold's descent 
upon the coasts of Connecticut, in 1781, was to that 
State; what the French occupation, in 1805, was to 
Spain; and what Sheridan's visitation was to the 
valley of Virginia. It was like a cyclone, sweeping 
a narrow but well-defined path of destruction and 
desolation through the heart of a beautiful and fer- 
tile land. It was worse than anything which had 
preceded it; and it stands out, monstrous and 
gloomy, in the receding vista of the past, towering 
like a forbidding mountain above every public catas- 
trophe that has followed it. 

Nor was it in the restricted path of Price's army 
alone that Missouri suffered. To everyone at all 
familiar with the history of that campaign the mere 
mention of it calls to mind a period of wild con- 
fusion and alarm in which the whole State was in- 
volved, — a period of bitter partisan warfare, of 
guerrilla outrage, and of bushwhacker atrocity. It 

17 



18 PILOT KNOB 

recalls a time when the midnight sky was lighted by 
the glare of flaming dwellings, and murder lurked 
in every bush and fence-corner; when cities and 
towns and villages were crowded with destitute 
country people, who fled, panic-stricken, from the 
pleasant farming regions where the monster of 
fratricidal strife, — that instigator of man's most 
brutal passions, stalked abroad in all its hideous 
ferocity; when every day brought its news, not 
alone of battle and skirmish, but of wholesale arson 
and pillage, and when no man knew when he arose 
in the morning but that before night he might be 
either the victim of an assassin's bullet or a fugi- 
tive, fleeing from the ruins of his smouldering 
home. Such were, to a greater or less degree, the 
conditions in Missouri throughout the epoch of the 
Rebellion; but they reached their maximum of al- 
most intolerable severity during the Price invasion. 
Missouri, probably more than either of the other 
two border States, Kentucky and Maryland, suf- 
fered beneath the tread of hostile armies as well as 
from the peculiar afflictions of partisan strife that 
are visited upon a people arrayed against them- 
selves. She was a rich prize, bitterly contended for 
by both the North and the South, and throughout 
her territory the sympathies of her people were 
sharply divided. The State's hitherto dominant 
political class was largely pro-Southern. Former 
governors, civil and military State officials, and ex- 



THE PRICE RAID 19 

members of the United States Congress sat in the 
legislative halls of the Confederacy at Richmond or 
served with the Southern armies in the field. 
Among them were such men as General D. M. 
Frost, a brilliant soldier of the old regular army, a 
great fur trader, the organizer of the Missouri 
Militia, and the commander of Camp Jackson; 
Waldo P. Johnson, who left a seat in the United 
States Senate almost before he had taken it, to 
accept one in the Confederate Senate; General 
Sterling Price, — an ex-governor, the suppressor of 
the insurrection in New Mexico in 1847, an d the 
avenger of the murder of Governor Charles Bent, — 
who, after presiding as a Union man over the State 
convention, which in the spring of 1861 rejected 
the proposition of secession, took the curious course 
of accepting a commission in the Confederate army; 
Trusten Polk, who became presiding military judge 
of the Confederate Department of Mississippi, a 
former United States senator, who also possessed 
the distinction of having defeated Thomas H. Ben- 
ton for the governorship of Missouri in 1856; Clai- 
borne F. Jackson, whose introduction of the "Jack- 
son Resolutions," which threw the State into a tur- 
moil over the question of slavery, made possible 
Polk's triumph over Benton; Dr. William M. Mc- 
Pheeters, a distinguished St. Louis physician, who 
left his patients and his clinics in order to dig in 
the trenches and become familiar with bayonets; 



20 PILOT KNOB 

a whole company of former congressmen, among 
them Uriel Wright, John B. Clark, and John W. 
Reid; M. M. Parsons, candidate for governor on 
the Breckenridge ticket in i860, who, failing to gain 
the office he sought, took a major-general's com- 
mission in the Confederate army instead; George 
G. Vest, whose services as representative and sen- 
ator in the Confederate Congress were later fol- 
lowed by a much longer tenure of office in the 
United States Senate ; E. L. Y. Peyton ; Thomas L. 
Snead, a politico-historical writer of unusual abil- 
ity ; and a great many others whose names had been 
potent in the restless public life of Missouri for a 
generation. 

That many of these men were of powerful intel- 
lect and high ability need not be said ; for the titanic 
legislative struggles and social disturbances attend- 
ing the settlement of Kansas Territory did not 
develop pygmies, and in those struggles and dis- 
turbances Missouri had borne the most conspicuous 
part. Yet opposed to them had always been an- 
other group of men, — men of as powerful minds 
and of as courageous mould, — whose hearts were 
entirely devoted to the Federal Union. In the past 
they had generally lacked the support of a majority 
of the population ; but when the test of war actually 
came between the factions, and the people were 
forced to face the issue, the Union leaders found 
themselves supported by so large a majority of their 



THE PRICE RAID 21 

fellow citizens that they were able to hold the State 
true to her allegiance. The preponderance of 
Union sentiment showed itself clearly in the rela- 
tive numbers of troops furnished by Missouri to the 
respective armies: 108,773 entered the Federal 
service and about 50,000 that of the Confederacy. 

Yet, despite the prevalence of Union sentiment, 
the outbreak of the Rebellion found the State under 
a Democratic administration, headed by Governor 
Claiborne F. Jackson, — an administration that was 
inimical to the National government and did all in 
its power to carry Missouri into the Confederacy. 
But the popular convention called by the Governor 
to consider the question of secession repudiated that 
course and declared the adherence of the State to 
the Union. 

The events which followed may be rapidly sum- 
marized: the assembling of Federal troops in St. 
Louis in the Spring of 1861 ; the call thereupon 
issued by Governor Jackson for the services of 
50,000 State militia "for the purpose of repelling 
invasion" ; the flight of Jackson from Jefferson City 
on the approach of the Federals, taking with him 
the great seal of the State; the assembling at Jef- 
ferson City, July 22, 1861, of the Union conven- 
tion, which declared the State offices vacant and 
organized a provisional government, headed by 
Hamilton R. Gamble; Jackson's proclamation, de- 
claring Missouri "a sovereign, free, and independ- 



22 PILOT KNOB 

ent republic," issued at New Madrid, August 5, 
1 86 1 ; the act of the Confederate Congress, — 
August 20, 1861, — authorizing the admittance of 
Missouri into the Confederacy; the tardy action of 
a quorum of the old State legislature which, sitting 
at Neosho, — October 28, — passed an ordinance of 
secession, thus lending a color of legality to Jack- 
son's proclamation ; and, finally, the seating of Mis- 
souri Senators and Representatives in the Congress 
at Richmond, and the incorporation in the Confed- 
erate flag of a star representing that State. These 
were among the chief events that plunged Mis- 
souri into the Civil War, envenomed the political 
agitations of the time, gave foundation to the re- 
spective claims of the United States and of the 
Confederacy upon her allegiance, and incited the 
many desolating invasions of her soil. 

By the end of February, 1862, the Southern 
armies, which had been almost constantly in occu- 
pation of some portion of southern Missouri since 
the beginning of the war, were driven from it and 
thenceforth retained no position in the State, except 
temporarily during the course of frequent raids. 
The strong minority of the people which entertained 
Southern sympathies, thus finding it impossible to 
readily ally themselves with the Confederate armies 
in the field, began a fierce partisan warfare which, 
diffused over wide and thinly populated areas, 
proved very difficult for the Federal forces to sub- 



THE PRICE RAID 23 

jugate or even to control. So vigorously was guer- 
rilla activity carried on that the Confederate govern- 
ment was persuaded by it to believe that the South- 
ern sentiment in the State was much stronger than 
was actually the case. This belief was the direct 
cause of the inauguration of General Price's cam- 
paign. 

Throughout the history of warfare it is quite 
usual to find the movements of armies governed 
more by political than by military considerations. 
But generally the latter govern in the field of 
strategy, even though, when all is said, warfare is 
but politics come to blows. Lee's invasion of 
Pennsylvania, Sherman's advance on Atlanta, had 
political objects, but these objects were but second- 
ary to the main object, which was to reach and 
defeat the opposing army. Price's invasion of Mis- 
souri, on the other hand, was inspired mainly by 
political objects; and they were sufficiently impor- 
tant to merit brief discussion before the purely mili- 
tary aspects of the expedition are touched upon. 

Owing to the ill success of its armies in the field 
and to the gradual loss of the territory which it had 
originally controlled, the Confederacy by midsum- 
mer, 1864, found its hopes of foreign recognition 
or intervention practically destroyed. Whatever 
sympathy for the South may have existed among 
some of the nations of Europe, none of them 
cared to become involved in difficulties by open 



24 PILOT KNOB 

espousal of a cause so obviously on the wane. Since 
the almost barren victory of Chickamauga in the 
fall of 1863, the Confederates had achieved no not- 
able success. True, in the spring of 1864, the army 
under Gen. E. Kirby Smith had repelled the ad- 
vance of General Banks up the Red River, and had 
driven him back to the vicinity of New Orleans. 
But this was merely a defensive advantage, assuring 
the retention of territory already held; and, though 
it had an effect in reviving some confidence in the 
Confederacy through the Southwest, it was other- 
wise devoid of practical results. As for the South- 
ern forces in the main theatre of war, they had been 
able to do nothing but struggle futilely against the 
tremendous and continuous hammering of the 
Union armies, now welded into perfect fighting 
machines, and wielded harmoniously and with con- 
summate skill by Grant in the East, and by Sherman 
in the West. Lee was closely invested in Peters- 
burg, too weak to undertake an offensive move- 
ment ; Johnston was fighting desperately to hold At- 
lanta; and the blockade was drawing closer and 
closer about the few Southern ports still in posses- 
sion of the Confederates. 

The belief existed that if it were possible to create 
a diversion by an invasion of Union territory it 
might, in case of success, serve to re-establish some 
of the Confederacy's lost prestige in the eyes of 
foreign nations, and might also serve to discourage 



THE PRICE RAID 25 

Northern sympathizers and encourage Southern 
ones everywhere. For many reasons Missouri of- 
fered the most promising field for such an enter- 
prise. In the first place, as has been said, the re- 
pulse of Banks on the Red River had somewhat re- 
vived the drooping spirits of the people of the 
Southwest, and the Confederate troops in that 
region were in better condition for offensive cam- 
paigning than they had been for some time. Again, 
owing to its immunity from serious invasions dur- 
ing 1863 and the early part of 1864, Missouri had 
been largely denuded of Union troops which had 
been removed to strengthen the armies further East 
and South, and the few which remained were widely 
scattered. By a sudden and vigorous attack they 
might be overwhelmed in detail, St. Louis captured, 
and the whole State brought into possession of the 
Confederates. At the least, by such an attack large 
numbers of Federal troops would certainly be 
drawn to the defense of Missouri, — troops whose 
services would thus be temporarily lost to the armies 
elsewhere. But by far the strongest incentive to 
an invasion of Missouri lay in its possible effect 
upon the pending elections in the United States. 

Since the extinction of their expectations of 
foreign intervention, the best hope of the Confed- 
erates had come to rest upon the success of the 
Democratic party in the North at the Presidential 
election in the fall of 1864. This party had per- 



26 PILOT KNOB 

sisted in maintaining that the Southern States could 
never be forced back into the Union and had bitterly 
opposed every measure adopted by President Lin- 
coln and the Republican party for the successful 
prosecution of the war. The Democrats believed 
that the seceded States had the right, if they cared 
to exercise it, of withdrawing from the Union; 
and though this belief was not directly expressed in 
the platform adopted by the Democratic National 
Convention at Chicago, August, 1864, the framers 
of that platform went as far as they dared by de- 
claring that, in event of success at the polls, it would 
be the policy of the party to see "that immediate 
effort be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a 
view to an ultimate convention of all the States, or 
other peaceable means, to the end that at the earliest 
practicable moment peace may be restored on the 
basis of the Federal Union of the States." In view 
of the emphatic and oft-repeated declaration of the 
Confederate government, expressed through Jeffer- 
son Davis, that the South would never consent to 
any peace save upon the basis of absolute inde- 
pendence, the enunciation of such a policy could 
deceive no one. What it really meant was peace 
at the price of the independence of the Confederacy. 
The people of the North and the people of the 
South both knew it, and the very candidate who 
ran for the presidency on the Democratic platform, 
Gen. George B. McClellan, being loyal to the most 



THE PRICE RAID 27 

vital interests of the Union, distinctly repudiated 
this plank in accepting the nomination. But in 
spite of General McClellan's personal position it 
was realized in the South that the sentiment for 
"peace at any price" controlled the Democratic party 
as a whole, and that whatever could contribute to 
the success of that party at the November elections 
would contribute just so much to the success of the 
Confederacy. A triumphant invasion of Missouri 
immediately before election could not but tend to 
discourage the war party in the North and to em- 
bolden their opponents, while it would cause many 
who were still wavering to array themselves with 
the latter. 

The peace party in Missouri was particularly 
strong and very outspoken in its denunciation of the 
war. Here flourished vigorously those secret so- 
cieties whose members, going but a step further 
than the passive peace advocates, pledged them- 
selves to do all in their power to thwart the efforts 
of the Union and, when opportunity should offer, 
to give armed aid to the Confederates. Among the 
most prominent of these organizations were the 
Knights of the Golden Circle, the Order of Amer- 
ican Knights, and the Sons of Liberty, which, — 
under the leadership of such men as Vallandigham, 
Guthrie, Burr, and Dean, — also existed in greater 
or less strength in other States, notably Ohio, 
Indiana, and Illinois. General Price was said to 



28 PILOT KNOB 

be the "Grand Commander" of all the secret so- 
cieties in the South and Clement L. Vallandigham 
of those in the North, the Belgian consul at St. 
Louis being the "State Commander" in Missouri. 1 
The Southern military authorities, relying upon the 
statements of Missouri members of these societies 
with whom they were in communication, confidently 
expected that they would furnish to Price at least 
30,000 recruits whenever he should invade the 
State. 2 In fact, the activity of the society mem- 
bers and of other Southern sympathizers antedated 
by some time the actual beginning of Price's cam- 
paign. Major-General Rosecrans, the Federal 
commander of the Department of the Missouri, re- 
ported, 3 in the summer of 1864, that since spring 
he had been made aware, through Southern sources, 
of preparations for such a campaign, which, so soon 
as it should begin, was to be aided by all the dis- 
affected elements in the State. The plans of the 
Missouri insurrectionists were matured before those 
of General Price, and, as they were unable to wait 
longer, they began the revolt on the 7th of July in 

1 Benson J. Lossing, "The Civil War in the United States," 
Vol. Ill, Page 276. 

2 General Price's letter to General E. Kirby Smith, "Official 
Records of the War of the Rebellion," Vol. XLI, Part II, 
Page 1025. 

3 General Rosecrans to the Assistant Adjutant General, 
Military Division of West Mississippi, "Official Records of 
the War of the Rebellion," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 307. 



THE PRICE RAID 29 

Platte County, on the border of Kansas. In his 
report above mentioned General Rosecrans stated 
that from that time until Price was driven from the 
State, "guerrilla warfare raged in the river counties 
west from Calloway on the North and from Cooper 
on the South side of the Missouri." For such con- 
ditions the conspiring secret societies were chiefly 
responsible. 

Though the principal object of the invasion was 
to assist the Democratic party as much as possible 
in the pending elections, another political object was 
involved of a nature still more important and inti- 
mate to Missouri. On December 6, 1863, Claiborne 
F. Jackson, the secessionist claimant of the Missouri 
governorship, had died at Little Rock, Ark. Upon 
his demise, Thomas C. Reynolds, who had been 
elected lieutenant-governor with him in i860, 
claimed the governorship as Jackson's legal succes- 
sor, and the claim was recognized at Richmond. 
In the North he was, of course, repudiated ; the elec- 
tion of Governor Gamble by the Union convention 
in 1 86 1 having later been confirmed by the people 
at a special election. Gamble also had died in 1863, 
and been succeeded by Willard F. Hall. 

When the time for the elections of 1864 ap- 
proached, the Confederate authorities became anx- 
ious to secure possession of a part of the State, 
including, if possible, the capital, Jefferson City, in 
order that the Southern sympathisers might vote 



3 o PILOT KNOB 

and carry out the form of electing Reynolds to suc- 
ceed himself. Such an election would lend color 
to their claims upon the State, and those claims 
would be heightened if Reynolds were in actual oc- 
cupation of the capital at the time. 

In addition to the political motives above out- 
lined there were important military incentives to the 
invasion. The first of them, — a decidedly vision- 
ary one, — was none the less regarded as of impor- 
tance at the time and its character should be under- 
stood in order to illustrate the desperate measures 
to which the Confederate authorities were by this 
time giving consideration. It was thought possible 
that if St. Louis and the eastern part of the State 
could be captured, and if, furthermore, the army 
which achieved these successes could be made suf- 
ficiently strong to venture upon more extended of- 
fensive movements, an invasion of Kentucky might 
be undertaken, Southeastern Missouri being used as 
a strategical base of operations. After sweeping 
the southern watershed of the Ohio valley, the in- 
vading army was to turn South, overwhelm the scat- 
tered Federal garrisons guarding the railroads, — 
which formed the line of communication through 
Kentucky and Tennessee between Louisville and 
General Sherman's army before Atlanta, — and then 
fall upon Sherman's rear and crush him between 
itself and the army defending Atlanta. 

That the plan, utterly impracticable though it may 



THE PRICE RAID 31 

seem, was regarded seriously at Richmond is clearly 
indicated by the attention bestowed upon a com- 
munication, outlining such a campaign, which was 
addressed to Jefferson Davis on July 23rd, 1864, 
by one J. Henry Behan, a captain and assistant com- 
missary of subsistence, stationed at Meridian, Miss. 
Captain Behan's letter was referred by Mr. Davis 
to his military advisor, Gen. Braxton Bragg, for 
consideration, and then in turn by General Bragg 
to the Secretary of War, James A. Seddon. Judg- 
ing by the words of his endorsement on the letter, 
Bragg felt rather doubtful of the feasibility of the 
project, but Secretary Seddon seems to have re- 
garded it favorably, as, apparently, did Mr. Davis 
himself. 4 That it went no further was owing to 
Price's inability to carry it out. 

But, aside from the far-reaching project just men- 
tioned, more sound and practical military reasons 
for the invasion existed in the possibility of receiv- 
ing large numbers of recruits for the depleted ranks 
of the Confederate army; of capturing quantities of 
stores of the commissary, quartermaster, and ord- 
nance departments; of destroying much Federal 
property, and crippling the railroad system of 
the State; of withholding from General Sherman's 
army a large number of troops, which would neces- 
sarily have to be sent to the defense of Missouri, 

4 Behan to Davis, "Official Records of the War of the Re- 
bellion," Vol. XLI, Part II, Page 1022. 



32 PILOT KNOB 

and, more important than all, of taking and occupy- 
ing St. Louis, a city at that time of about 165,000 
people, the seventh in population in the United 
States, but relatively of much more consequence as 
the metropolis of the upper Mississippi Valley, the 
distributing point for vast quantities of military 
supplies, and the key to a great and rich territory. 
The loss would be an almost irreparable one to 
the Union and an incalculable gain to the Confed- 
eracy. 

Having briefly considered the principal under- 
lying causes of the Confederate invasion of Mis- 
souri, we may now turn to a survey of the campaign 
itself and the events immediately preceding it. At 
the time of the Red River Expedition the Federals 
were in possession of most of the northern half of 
the State of Arkansas, including the four chief 
towns of the State, — Fort Smith, Little Rock, Pine 
Bluff, and Helena, which, roughly speaking, lie in 
the order named across the centre of the State from 
west to east. The largest single body of Federal 
troops in the region at that time was the one. some 
7,000 strong, under Gen. Frederick Steele at Little 
Rock. In order to cooperate with Banks' move- 
ment on Shreveport, La., General Steele advanced 
late in March, 1864, upon the Confederate army 
under General Price, which was south of the 
Ouachita River. He succeeded in forcing Price 



THE PRICE RAID 33 

back for a time, and temporarily occupied Arka- 
delphia and Camden; but, on the defeat of Banks, 
Steele was finally compelled to retreat to Little 
Rock, after having suffered some rather serious 
reverses, among which was the loss of a large num- 
ber of wagons and quantities of supplies, which 
were captured by the Confederate cavalry under 
Generals Marmaduke and Shelby. 

General Steele's discomfiture produced a bad ef- 
fect upon the Union cause in Arkansas. After his 
retirement to Little Rock the Federal troops re- 
mained in possession of practically nothing except 
the four towns already mentioned and the tri- 
angular strip of country in the eastern part of the 
State, lying between the Mississippi and Arkansas 
Rivers and the line of the Memphis and Little Rock 
Railroad. General Price advanced his lines to the 
Saline River and his troops foraged and skirmished 
almost within sight of Little Rock, while his most 
active and skilful subordinate, Gen. Joseph O. Shel- 
by, crossed the Arkansas and boldly established 
himself in the Northeastern part of the State, where 
his raids upon the Memphis and Little Rock Rail- 
road and upon the steamboats and fortifications 
along the White River became a source of serious 
annoyance and loss to the Federal forces in that 
vicinity. The latter were too weak to assume the 
offensive, and their positions became little better 



34 PILOT KNOB 

than posts of observation from which the enemy's 
movements could be approximately judged. 

Circumstances were now propitious for the 
launching of that great raid into Missouri which 
had long been held under advisement. It is prob- 
able that at the time no locality in the Confed- 
eracy offered more favorable conditions for the 
preparation of such an enterprise than central 
Arkansas. True, the country was thinly popu- 
lated and no supplies of any kind for a large body 
of men and horses were abundant in the imme- 
diate vicinity. But this was the case through- 
out the Confederacy; east of the Mississippi food- 
stuffs, especially, were far scarcer than west of 
it. The great State of Texas and the western por- 
tions of Louisiana and Arkansas, — rich in natural 
resources, and possessing many fertile agricultural 
sections, — had as yet hardly been touched by the 
Federals. The lines of communication through- 
out this region were free from interruption and, 
with sufficient transportation facilities, it was not 
hard to assemble for General Price's army all the 
commissary stores and forage necessary for the 
inarch into Missouri. After the army entered the 
State it would be able to subsist on the country. 
The army was not so well supplied with either 
clothing or arms, but there was no actual suffering 
for the former. Of weapons, which were of vari- 
ous patterns, some good and some indifferent, there 



THE PRICE RAID 35 

were only enough to equip about two-thirds of the 
force. 5 The absence of any large and aggressive 
Federal army in the vicinity permitted General 
Price to perfect his arrangements without either 
undue haste or the inconvenience attending constant 
danger of hostile attacks. His troops had before 
them the inspiration of the victories recently 
achieved by their comrades along the Red River as 
well as of their own successes over General Steele, 
— successes which, though not of the first magni- 
tude, had yet been more substantial than any gained 
by Southern arms elsewhere during the same period, 
and certainly sufficiently decisive to revive a spirit 
of resolution among the victors. It is evident from 
the tone of the letters, dispatches, and orders, issued 
by General Price and his subordinates during the 
period of preparation and during the first phases 
of the raid itself, that they were setting out upon 
the invasion with feelings of confidence and with 
high hopes of success. 

Late in August Gen. E. Kirby Smith, command- 
ing the Trans-Mississippi Department, went to 
Camden, Ark., where he held a final council of war 
with General Price, at which the plans for the cam- 
paign were fully discussed and matured. 6 On 

5 General Price's report, "Official Records of the War of 
the Rebellion," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 627. 

6 General E. K. Smith's orders to General Price, "Official 
Records of the War of the Rebellion," Vol XLI, Part I, 
Page 718. 



36 PILOT KNOB 

August 27th Price resigned from the command of 
the District of Arkansas, and was succeeded by Gen. 
John B. Magruder. Two days later, at Princeton, 
Price assumed command of the expeditionary force, 
which was variously designated "The Army of Mis- 
souri" or "The Army in the Field." The raid was 
to be made exclusively by cavalry and mounted in- 
fantry; and at Princeton were assembled the di- 
visions of Maj.-Gen. J. F. Fagan and Maj.-Gen. 
J. S. Marmaduke, — divisions made up of such 
troops. The division of Brig.-Gen. J. O. Shelby 
was to join on the march. 

Leaving Princeton on August 30th, Price moved 
rapidly north-westward to Dardanelle, where he 
crossed the Arkansas on Sept. 6th. A few Federal 
patrols were encountered, but they did not attempt 
to oppose his march. Swinging to the northeast 
from Dardanelle, he crossed the White River, and 
on the 13th was at Batesville, whence he moved to 
Powhatan. Here Shelby reported to him; and 
on the 17th the greater part of Shelby's division 
joined the main column at Pocahontas. Price's 
army, as now finally organized for the campaign, 
consisted, according to his official reports, 7 of three 
divisions embracing eight brigades, besides several 
unattached regiments and battalions, and amounted, 
— so Gen. Price stated, — to 12,000 men, of whom 
8,000 were armed, and four batteries and one sec- 

7 "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Pages 627 and 641. 



THE PRICE RAID 37 

tion of field artillery, numbering fourteen pieces. 8 
The advance from Pocahontas to the Missouri 
line was made in three columns, — each composed of 
a division, — which were instructed to reunite at 
Fredericktown, Mo. General Fagan's division, 
with which General Price kept his headquarters, 
marched in the center by way of Martinsburg, 
Reeve's Station, and Greenville, while Marmaduke 
moved on the right, and Shelby marched on the left 
at distances of between ten and twenty miles from 

8 General Price's estimate of the strength of his army was 
probably little more than an approximate one for it is doubt- 
ful if he had accurate returns on which to base it; at least, 
no such returns are contained in the "Official Records of the 
War of the Rebellion." It is much more difficult to arrive 
at even an approximately correct idea of the strength of any 
of the Confederate armies during the last year of the war 
than it is to find that of the Federal armies; for in the case 
of the latter, returns were made promptly and fully and were 
systematically recorded, while in the case of the former they 
were generally made at very irregular intervals and were 
meager in character and had been carelessly kept. Those of 
Price's army were no exception to the rule. Other estimates 
than his own upon the strength of his forces differ widely. 
General Rosecrans stated it at 15,000 ("Official Records," Vol. 
XLI, Part I, Page 310) ; General Curtis said it was 30,000 
at the battle of Big Blue River ("Official Records," Vol. XLI, 
Part I, Page 479) ; Major Chapman S. Chariot, Assistant 
Adjutant-General, Department of Kansas, called it 25,000 
("Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 525) ; Benson J. 
Lossing made it 20,000 ("Cyclopaedia of United States His- 
tory," Vol. II, Page 901, and "The Civil War in the United 
States," Vol. Ill, Page 276) ; Captain H. E. Palmer also be- 
lieved it to be 20,000 (Kansas Historical Collections, Vol. 



38 PILOT KNOB 

the center column. The State line was crossed on 
Sept. 20th, and on that day the advance guard of 
Shelby's division, which had forged ahead of the 
others, encountered, just beyond Doniphan, a de- 
tachment of the Third Missouri State Militia Cav- 
alry, under Lieut. Eric Pape. In a sharp skirmish 
the Federals were driven northward on the road 
to Patterson. Both sides suffered loss. It was 
the first resistance Price had encountered. Lieut. 
P'ape's detachment was on scout duty from the gar- 
rison at Pilot Knob, the only considerable body of 
Federals then lying between the invading army and 
St. Louis. The fight for Missouri was begun. In 
what condition were its defenders for meeting the 
issue? The question must be briefly answered. 
The invasion had not come unexpectedly; in fact, 

IX, Page 432) ; and John N. Edwards placed it at 10,000 
men and 12 guns ("Shelby and His Men," Page 315). The 
actual strength for duty doubtless varied greatly at different 
times during the raid. Of the forty-seven regimental, bat- 
talion, and battery organizations which started with the ex- 
pedition, twenty-two were from Missouri ("Organization of 
Price's army," "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 
641). Many of the men belonging to these Missouri organ- 
izations unquestionably deserted when they arrived near their 
homes. On the other hand, large numbers of recruits, volun- 
teer or conscript, were constantly joining him, counterbal- 
ancing in a greater or less degree the losses by desertion and 
battle, and possibly giving him a larger number of men when 
he left the State than when he entered it. It is probable, 
however, that the average strength of Price's army during 
the raid was not far from 20,000. 



THE PRICE RAID 39 

it had been anticipated all summer, not alone be- 
cause conditions favored such a movement, but 
because rumors of its imminence had constantly 
been circulating among the Southern sympathizers 
in Missouri. The revival of guerrilla activity 
throughout the State, and the suppressed but eager 
energy displayed by the Order of American Knights 
and other secret societies in their preparations to aid 
the invasion, pointed also to its early development. 
Had General Steele felt himself strong enough, the 
Federal forces in the Department of Arkansas 
might have thwarted it at its inception. According 
to the returns of that Department for the month of 
August, 1864, 9 there were then present for duty 
within the State 23,630 officers and men, but, as has 
already been indicated, they were much scattered, 
and General Steele deemed himself unable to cope 
with Price's army. Moreover, he at first believed 
that the Confederate movement was directed 
against his own position at Little Rock, and he did 
not become convinced until too late that Price's real 
design was to pass around his right flank and enter 
Missouri. Upon learning positively that the latter 
was the case he sent a dispatch on September 16th 
to General Rosecrans advising him of the fact. 
Further than this, he ordered the 1st Division of 
the 1 6th Army Corps, under Maj.-Gen. Joseph A. 

9 "Official Records of the War of the Rebellion," Vol. XLI, 
Part II, Page 967. 



4 o PILOT KNOB 

Mower, to pursue Price and, if possible, bring him 
to a halt. Mower's command had been on its way 
to Sherman's army when it was diverted by instruc- 
tions from Washington to reenforce Steele. But 
Mower's troops were infantry; and, in spite of the 
most arduous marches, were unable to come up with 
the more swiftly moving Confederate cavalry. Six 
thousand strong, with two batteries, they arrived at 
Cape Girardeau, Mo., on October 6th, when Price 
was already between Franklin and Jefferson City, 
and they did not overtake him until about October 
2 ist, when he was near the Kansas line. 

At this time the Federal commander of the entire 
Trans-Mississippi region was Maj.-Gen. Edward R. 
S. Canby, whose jurisdiction was entitled the Mili- 
tary Division of West Mississippi. It was sub- 
divided into the Department of the Gulf, under 
Maj.-Gen. N. P. Banks; the Department of Arkan- 
sas, under Maj.-Gen. Frederick Steele, and the 
Department of the Missouri, under Maj.-Gen. Wil- 
liam S. Rosecrans. The Department of the Mis- 
souri was further sub-divided into the District of St. 
Louis, commanded by Brig. -Gen. Thomas Ewing, 
Jr., with headquarters at St. Louis; the District of 
Rolla, under the command of Brig.-Gen. John Mc- 
Neil, headquarters, Rolla; the District of Central 
Missouri, commanded by Maj.-Gen. Alfred Pleas- 
anton, headquarters, Warrensburg; the District of 
North Missouri, commanded by Brig.-Gen. Clinton 



THE PRICE RAID 41 

B. Fisk, headquarters, St. Joseph, and the District 
of Southwest Missouri, commanded by Brig.-Gen. 
John B. Sanborn, headquarters, Springfield. 

At the end of August, 1864, when the last return 
was made prior to the raid, there were present for 
duty in the entire Department of the Missouri only 
14,860 officers and men, including 3,721 Enrolled 
Missouri Militia, 10 which were on home-guard duty 
only in the districts in which they had been re- 
cruited. The other troops, — consisting of a few 
regiments and parts of regiments of United States 
Volunteers, but chiefly of Missouri State Militia, — 
were scattered all over the State in small detach- 
ments which had far more than they could do in 
striving to hold in check and stamp out the guerrilla 
bands that infested the State from one end to the 
other. In August, 1864, these troops were occupy- 
ing no less than forty-seven separate posts. Sixty 
days later, when the return for October was made, 
there were 29,196 troops in the Department, of 
whom 14,164 were Enrolled Missouri Militia. 11 
The credit for the expulsion of Price from the State 
must therefore go largely to the home guards. 

The first positive warning of the beginning of the 
raid received by General Rosecrans was contained 
in a dispatch sent to him on September 2 by Maj.- 
Gen. C. C. Washburn, commanding the District of 

10 "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part II, Page 966. 
« "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part IV, Page 360. 



42 PILOT KNOB 

West Tennessee at Memphis. Washburn informed 
Rosecrans that Price had crossed the Arkansas and 
was marching toward Missouri; that Mower had 
been ordered across the Mississippi to cooperate 
with Steele, and that Maj.-Gen. A. J. Smith, with 
4,500 men, — parts of two divisions of the 16th 
Army Corps, — was on his way up the river en route 
to Sherman's army. At the earnest solicitation of 
General Rosecrans, General Smith was ordered by 
Maj.-Gen. H. W. Halleck, Chief of Staff of the 
United States Army at Washington, to halt his com- 
mand at Cairo, 111., whence it was quickly moved 
into St. Louis. 

General Rosecrans' first and chief concern was 
for the safety of the city of St. Louis and of the 
immense supply depots and wagon trains at Rolla 
and Springfield. It was impossible to tell what di- 
rection Price might take after entering the State; 
and the protection of Rolla and Springfield involved 
also the protection of the South Branch Railroad 
(now the St. Louis and San Francisco), connecting 
St. Louis with Rolla. At that time a train of no 
less than nine hundred wagons was constantly en- 
gaged in hauling the great quantities of supplies 
used at Springfield from the railroad terminus at 
Rolla. To furnish escorts for these great trains, 
and to guard the nine posts of his district together 
with their environs, General Sanborn had at his dis- 
posal three regiments of cavalry and two batteries 



THE PRICE RAID 43 

of field artillery; while General McNeil had in his 
district thirteen companies of cavalry, nine com- 
panies of infantry and one battery. General Rose- 
crans at once instructed both Sanborn and McNeil 
to concentrate all their available troops at their 
respective headquarters, and to impress into tem- 
porary service all military exempts and other citi- 
zens who could be found, chiefly for work on forti- 
fications. The surrounding country was thus neces- 
sarily left at the mercy of marauding guerrillas ; 
but both Springfield and Rolla were soon made 
reasonably safe, though practically divested during 
the continuance of the campaign of all troops ex- 
cept citizen guards. 

Southward from St. Louis, running first along 
the base of the precipitous bluffs which rise above 
the Mississippi, and then plunging into the rough, 
wooded country of the Ozark Mountains, extends 
a railroad, — the St. Louis and Iron Mountain, — 
which has long since been completed to Little Rock 
and thence into Texas, but which, in 1864, termi- 
nated at the village of Pilot Knob, Mo., eighty-six 
miles south of St. Louis. Fredericktown, where 
Price's divisions were to concentrate, is only twenty- 
one miles southeast of Pilot Knob on a direct road. 
A field fortification, — small and badly located in 
case artillery fire should be brought to bear upon it, 
but of strong profile for resisting an infantry at- 
tack, — had been erected at Pilot Knob. It was oc- 



44 PILOT KNOB 

cupied by a small garrison only after the direction of 
Price's invasion had been definitely ascertained, and 
when it became evident that Pilot Knob would be 
an excellent point for offering the first decided re- 
sistance to the enemy and for delaying his advance 
upon St. Louis until enough troops could be concen- 
trated there to man the fortifications and defend 
the city. 

Accordingly General Ewing, in whose district 
Pilot Knob lay, himself repaired thither on Septem- 
ber 26th, with four companies of the 14th Iowa In- 
fantry. This brought the garrison up to a strength 
of about one thousand men. Ewing also strength- 
ened the garrisons guarding the various railroad 
bridges between Pilot Knob and St. Louis. At the 
time of his arrival, scouting parties had already lo- 
cated the enemy's main body at Fredericktown, 
where General Price, after consultation with his 
division commanders, concluded to deviate from 
his direct line of march on St. Louis long enough to 
capture Pilot Knob and its garrison, conceiving that 
it would be unsafe to leave the latter in his rear. 
In arriving at this decision he committed the most 
serious error of his campaign, and the one which 
brought about the failure of its main objects if not, 
indeed, its final and complete defeat. Had he 
pushed on to St. Louis with all the speed of which 
his mounted troops were capable, the small infantry 
force at Pilot Knob, even if it had followed, could 



THE PRICE RAID 45 

not have overtaken him until after he had occupied 
the city; and then it assuredly would not have at- 
tempted to do so because its own safety would have 
demanded that it retreat with the utmost speed in 
any other direction. It is extremely probable that, 
if Price had advanced directly upon St. Louis he 
would have been able to take it. General Rosecrans 
on September 27th, the day of the battle at Pilot 
Knob, had in hand for the defense of the city only A. 
J. Smith's division, four thousand five hundred men, 
and two and a fraction regiments of cavalry, — about 
1,500 men in number. 12 It is true the defenses of 
the city, consisting of a line of detached forts, were 
strong, and contained a number of heavy guns; but 
with only 6,000 men to defend a line seven miles 
long against a veteran army of 20,000 it is evident 
that the chances of success were in favor of the 
assailants. By September 30th, on the other hand, 
when Price reached Richwoods, about forty miles 
southwest of the city and the nearest point to it 
which his main body attained, the army of defense 
had been augmented by 4,500 Enrolled Missouri 
Militia, about 5,000 citizens organized into regi- 
ments and well armed, and five regiments of Illinois 
volunteers numbering 4,000. With the city 
guarded by 20,000 men instead of 6,000 the situ- 
ation bore a very different aspect and Price did not 
dare attack. His strategical error was committed 
i- 2 "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 310. 



46 PILOT KNOB 

when he moved on Pilot Knob from Fredericktown 
on the morning of September 26th. General 
Shelby did not approve of the movement 13 and his 
division was detached and sent on a detour by way 
of Farmington to destroy the railroad track and 
bridges between Irondale and Mineral Point, and 
on the branch line to Potosi, — a task which he per- 
formed rapidly and thoroughly. 

Price, with Marmaduke's division and that of 
Fagan, advanced on Pilot Knob by way of Arcadia, 
which his troops occupied that night. The next 
morning he pushed on, and after hours of obstinate 
fighting, succeeded in forcing General Ewing's men 
from the gap between Pilot Knob Mountain and 
Shepherd's Mountain, and in taking possession of 
the lower end of the valley in which lies the village 
of Pilot Knob. Among the Federal troops was 
Col. Thomas C. Fletcher, Republican candidate for 
Governor of Missouri, who was in command of the 
47th Missouri Infantry, while one of the wit- 
nesses of the battle on the Confederate side was 
Thomas C. Reynolds, the Southern claimant of the 
gubernatorial seat; so that the contest had not only 
a decidedly interesting military aspect, but a very 
interesting political one, as well. At 2 p. m. a ter- 
rific assault was delivered upon the southern and 
eastern faces of Fort Davidson, the Federal work 
in the valley, by both the Confederate divisions, 

13 See General Shelby's letter, following. 



THE PRICE RAID 47 

dismounted. It was repulsed with fearful loss, 
about 1,500 men of the assaulting columns, as nearly 
as could be ascertained, falling within a few 
minutes. 14 Nor was this all; for the staggering 
blow inflicted upon them undoubtedly shook the 
confidence of the Confederate troops and under- 
mined their morale to such an extent that thereafter 
they were extremely reluctant to attack intrenched 
positions. Shelby's troops, which had not suffered 
in the carnage, remained to the end of the campaign 
the best in Price's army. 

General Ewing, appreciating the fact that more 
elaborate preparations would probably enable the 
enemy to storm his position the next morning, and 
having no expectation of reinforcements, spiked his 
heavy guns and exploded his magazines during the 
night; then retreated with his whole force in a 
northwesterly direction toward Leasburg, or Har- 
rison's Station, located on the railroad from St. 
Louis to Rolla. He barely escaped encountering 
Shelby's entire division, which, under orders, was 
moving south from its raid on the Iron Mountain 
Railroad to rejoin the main body at Pilot Knob. 
Plunging into a wild and mountainous country 
Ewing made good his retreat, though not without 
stubborn rear-guard fighting; for nearly the whole 

14 See statements which follow of General Ewing and other 
Federal and Confederate officers, concerning the Confederate 
losses. 



48 PILOT KNOB 

Confederate army followed him to Leasburg and 
lingered about that place for two days without at- 
tempting an attack. Cavalry reinforcements from 
General McNeil's command then reached him, and 
he retired on Rolla; and the Confederates who had 
been pursuing him veered off in the opposite direc- 
tion toward St. Louis. They only went as far as 
St. Clair, however, where they rejoined General 
Price, who had decided, — after the days he had 
wasted in his futile pursuit of Ewing, — that St. 
Louis was too strongly defended to be taken by 
assault, and had determined to strike direct for Jef- 
ferson City. Already the Federals were gathering 
so rapidly in every direction as to cause him uneasi- 
ness. Just across the Meramec, General Smith's 
divisions lay awaiting him, supported by three 
brigades of Enrolled Missouri Militia. Sanborn 
and McNeil, with all the available cavalry of their 
districts, were moving by forced marches across 
country from Rolla to Jefferson City, where Gen. 
Egbert B. Brown, with some 2,500 men, 15 hastily 
concentrated from the country west of Sedalia, was 
busy intrenching the capital and putting it in a con- 
dition to resist capture. 

From Richwoods the Confederates, — a body of 
600, with two pieces of artillery, — moved slowly 
northwest, occupied Franklin, or Pacific, the junc- 
tion of the South Branch Railroad with the line to 
15 "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 345- 



THE PRICE RAID 49 

Jefferson City, and destroyed the track of the South 
Branch west of that town as well as the large Mo- 
selle Bridge. So long as he lay in the Meramec 
Valley, General Rosecrans did not feel safe in re- 
moving any of his troops, — which were largely com- 
posed of raw levies untested in battle, — from their 
positions between Price and the city. On October 
1st, however, Colonel Wolfe's brigade of one of 
Smith's divisions went forward to Franklin by 
train. On nearing the town the train was fired into 
by the Confederates, who, supported by their artil- 
lery, were in line of battle on the hills. The train 
came to a stop, and Smith's veterans poured from 
the cars like a swarm of bees, dancing and singing 
as they formed line and, hardly waiting for their 
officers, charged at double-quick upon the hills. 16 
The Confederates, some of whom had faced Smith's 
men before during the Vicksburg and Red River 
campaigns, did not care to make their closer ac- 
quaintance, and fell back rapidly, leaving the town 
in possession of the Federals. 

Next day it became evident that the main Con- 
federate army was moving away from St. Louis; 
it was massed at Union, some sixteen miles west of 
Franklin. General Smith accordingly ordered for- 
ward the remainder of his division to Franklin, and 
on the 3rd continued his advance to Gray's Sum- 

16 Statements of Abr. Johnson and of the engineer of the 
train. 



50 PILOT KNOB 

mit. General Pike's militia followed him and occu- 
pied his former position at Franklin. The Federal 
cavalry was exceedingly active, and pushed forward 
on the 4th to the Gasconade River, Smith's main 
column occupying Union. Everywhere there was 
evidence of the recent presence of the enemy in the 
wreckage of railroad tracks, bridges, and depots. 
On the 2nd of October Price had captured Wash- 
ington, on the Missouri River, and next day he took 
the town of Hermann as well as a train loaded with 
quartermaster's and ordnance stores at Miller's Sta- 
tion. The bridges across the Gasconade and Osage 
were destroyed, though at the latter stream, on the 
6th, Shelby's division, which had the advance, was 
compelled to bring artillery into action to force a 
passage against Colonel Phillips, who had moved 
out from Jefferson City, having marched to the cap- 
ital from Cuba, on the South Branch Railroad, a 
distance of eighty miles in thirty-six hours, and had 
crossed the Osage only a few hours in advance of 
Price's arrival there. This reenforcement brought 
the garrison up to 6,700 men, — 4,100 cavalry and 
2,600 infantry. 17 

Between Jefferson City and the Gasconade is an- 
other small river called the Moreau, which in this 
vicinity has steep banks and a muddy bottom, mak- 
ing it a difficult obstacle to cross. Here General 
Sanborn offered a vigorous resistance, but was grad- 
« "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 311. 



THE PRICE RAID 51 

ually forced back, fighting all the way, into the 
intrenchments of Jefferson City, where Gen. Clin- 
ton B. Fisk had now arrived and, as he was the 
ranking officer present, assumed command. 

Unremitting labor by every soldier and citizen 
in the town had by this time put Jefferson City in a 
good state of defense. It was a position of consid- 
erable natural strength; and the garrison awaited 
the Confederate attack with confidence. About 
noon of the 7th, the Federal troops were all with- 
drawn to their assigned positions in the intrench- 
ments; General McNeil's brigade taking the right 
of the line, General Sanborn's the center, and Gen- 
eral Brown's the left, while Colonel Hickox's bri- 
gade remained in reserve. Price's army defiled past 
the front of the city along the range of hills just 
south of that on which the town is built, and de- 
ployed in line of battle. A vigorous artillery duel 
ensued, while the Confederates endeavored to dis- 
cover a weak point in the lines. Failing to find a 
spot which appeared favorable for assault, they con- 
tented themselves with bombarding the city during 
the afternoon, and, toward nightfall, they massed 
strongly opposite the Federal right. Fearing an 
assault in that quarter next morning, the Federals 
spent the night in strengthening the works occupied 
by McNeil. But the Confederate movement was 
only a demonstration, designed to cover the march 
of their wagon trains, which were passing west- 



52 PILOT KNOB 

ward in rear of their lines on the road to California, 
the county seat of Moniteau County. For some 
time after daybreak next morning their line of bat- 
tle maintained a threatening attitude, but withdrew 
before 8 o'clock, retiring along the California road. 
General Fisk, — after the war famous as a Pro- 
hibition leader and founder of Fisk University at 
Nashville, Tenn., — who wielded a trenchant pen as 
well as a skilful sword, remarked in his official 
report : 

"The capital of the State had been saved from 
the polluting presence of her traitorous sons in 
arms. One of the chief objects of Price's invasion 
of Missouri, the seizure and occupancy of her 
political capital for the purpose of holding elections 
and the transaction of other business by the itinerat- 
ing traitors who style themselves the State and legis- 
lative departments of Missouri, was, by the cour- 
age, industry, and determination of our small force 
at Jefferson City, defeated." 18 

General Price, in his official report, said, simply : 

" After consultation with my general officers I 
determined not to attack the enemy's intrenchments, 
as they outnumbered us nearly two to one and were 
strongly fortified." 19 

18 "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 420. 

19 "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 631. 



THE PRICE RAID 53 

As is shown by the figures previously given, Gen- 
eral Price was very far from correct in his estimate 
of the number of Federals in Jefferson City. But, 
be that as it may, they had frustrated the second 
great aim of his expedition. Thomas C. Reynolds, 
like Moses, was forced to look from the hills upon 
the Promised Land into which he might not enter. 
Naturally he was bitterly disappointed over Price's 
failure to occupy the capital, and after the return 
of the army to Arkansas and Texas he published 
an open letter 20 in which he severely criticised 
Price's conduct of the Missouri expedition. The 
letter was so severe that Price was forced by it 
to call for a Court of Inquiry to examine into the 
questions it raised. The court was still in session 
in May, 1865, when the close of the war in the 
trans-Mississippi region brought its deliberations to 
an abrupt termination. 

Reynolds was a man of high ability and one who 
believed very earnestly in the validity of his claim 
to the Missouri governorship. His rather close 
relations with General Price during the years of the 
war had given him a very poor opinion of the qual- 
ifications of the latter for high command, and in 
1867, while residing in the City of Mexico, whence 
he had fled at the close of hostilities, he wrote an 

20 Reproduced on pages 383-393 of "Shelby and His Men," 
by John N. Edwards. (Hudson-Kimberly Pub. Co., Kansas 
City, 1807.) 



54 PILOT KNOB 

extensive though uncompleted narrative of Price's 
military operations and conduct as an officer. This 
story is remarkable not only for its literary excel- 
lence and for the interesting side-light which it 
throws upon many men and events of the time, but 
because it goes far towards convincing the histor- 
ical student of the correctness of Reynolds' conten- 
tions. 21 

Whatever may have been the merits of the Price- 
Reynolds' controversy over the campaign as a 
whole, however, General Price's failure at Jefferson 
City must be ascribed more or less directly to his 
delay at Pilot Knob and the results of the battle 
there. Had he not suffered that disastrous repulse, 
his officers and men would not have been so fearful 
of attempting the intrenchments of Jefferson City 
and might have succeeded in storming them. Fur- 
thermore, had he not wasted precious days in his 
operations against Pilot Knob and in a futile pursuit 
of Ewing's column, there can be little doubt that, 
even if he had abandoned his attack on St. Louis, he 
could have reached Jefferson City before its earth- 
works would have been in condition to withstand an 
assault and before more than a handful of troops 
could have been concentrated for its defense. His 
experience demonstrated again, — if it needed dem- 
onstration, — the inestimable value of time in mili- 

21 "The Reynolds' Manuscript and Correspondence," now in 
possession of the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Mo. 



THE PRICE RAID 55 

tary operations. One failure to act with all possible 
celerity was followed by a chain of events which 
cost him the success of his entire enterprise, unless 
a figment of success be based upon the wholesale 
destruction of property and the acquisition of a 
few thousands of untrained volunteers and con- 
scripts 22 the majority of whom deserted him before 
his precipitate retreat had carried him out of the 
State. On the other hand, the events of the cam- 
paign following Ewing's stubborn defense of Pilot 
Knob demonstrated quite as forcibly the vast good 
which can often be accomplished by the garrison of 
a small post which stands courageously to its trust, 
inflicts as much loss as possible upon the enemy, and 
delays and embarrasses his operations to the utmost 
of its abilities. 

Upon the retirement of the Confederates from be- 
fore Jefferson City, General Fisk promptly threw 
forward the cavalry of the garrison along the Cali- 
fornia road and struck the enemy's rear-guard, un- 
der Fagan, inflicting considerable loss upon it. 
Shortly after 8 o'clock that morning, Major-Gen- 
eral Alfred Pleasanton, who had been absent in 

22 That conscription was extensively carried on by Confed- 
erate recruiting officers with Price is asserted by Wiley Brit- 
ton in "The Battles and Leaders of the Civil War" (The 
Century Co., New York, Vol. IV, Page 376), the statement 
being supported by quotations from documents which are 
marked "not found" in the "Official Records of the War of 
the Rebellion," but to which Mr. Britton doubtless had access. 



56 PILOT KNOB 

the East, reached Jefferson City from St. Louis, 
and assumed command. His arrival assured a tire- 
less and vigorous pursuit of the enemy, for he was 
a cavalry leader of the highest ability, who^ at 
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and on other famous 
fields of the East, had commanded the cavalry corps 
of the Army of the Potomac with brilliancy and suc- 
cess until he was relieved and sent to an obscure 
Western command because of supposed animosity 
toward General Meade. 23 Pleasanton immediately 
organized all the available cavalry into a division of 
three brigades to which was attached a battery of 
six guns, the whole numbering about 4,100 men, 
and sent it forward under General Sanborn after 
the enemy. General Smith, whose troops were on 
the road from St. Louis, was directed by General 
Rosecrans to hasten his march to Jefferson City, 
where Mower's division, which had reached St. 
Louis, would join him by steamers, via the Missouri 
River. Smith's cavalry, under Colonel Cather- 
wood, — later under Col. E. F. Winslow, — hur- 
ried ahead to join Pleasanton, while General Pike's 
militia was charged with policing the country and 
guarding the line of communication between Jef- 
ferson City and St. Louis. 

23 Major John C. White, U. S. A., retired, in a "Review of 
the Services of the Regular Army during the Civil War," in 
the Journal of the Military Service Institution, January- 
February, 1910, Page 60. 



THE PRICE RAID 57 

Sanborn pressed hard on Price's rear and learned 
at Versailles, where a hot skirmish occurred, that 
the enemy had turned north toward Boonville, on 
the Missouri. Pushing on, he drove their rear- 
guard into line of battle near Boonville but, after 
being nearly surrounded by superior numbers, was 
forced to retire on California, where he was reen- 
forced by Catherwood on the 14th of October. 
General Shelby in the meantime had captured Boon- 
ville with its small garrison and considerable stores. 

General Price entered Boonville with Shelby, and 
while there committed himself to a line of action 
for which in one particular he has been severely and 
justly criticised. He received and formally recog- 
nized as officers of the Confederate army the noto- 
rious guerrilla leaders, Bill Anderson and William C. 
Quantrill, the latter of whom had commanded the 
barbarous gang which committed the appalling mas- 
sacre at Lawrence, Kansas, on August 25th, 1863, 
and the former of whom had been guilty of the 
bloody, heartrending assassinations at Centralia, 
Missouri, September 27th, 1864. Both men were 
hardened desperadoes of the most brutal type, 
whose countless cold-blooded atrocities were only 
too well known everywhere, — South as well as 
North; yet General Price not only recognized them 
as Confederate officers, but commissioned them to 
take their bands of freebooters to the north side 
of the Missouri River and there destroy the Hanni- 



58 PILOT KNOB 

bal and St. Joseph Railroad and the North Missouri 
Railroad, especially a large bridge in St. Charles 
County. 24 Recognizing General Price's kindly na- 
ture and his reputation for magnanimity and human- 
ity, it is difficult to understand how he could have 
justified himself for such an alliance with outlawry. 
From Boonville the Confederate columns marched 
on across the Lamine River toward Arrow Rock. 
Being too weak to bring Price to decisive action, 
Sanborn paralleled the enemy's westward march at 
some distance, holding the line of Blackwater Creek, 
a tributary of the Lamine, and keeping between 
Price and the Pacific Railroad. At Arrow Rock 
the Confederates captured a ferry-boat on which a 
portion of Marmaduke's command crossed the river 
and on the 15th they marched up to Glasgow, where 
Col. Chester Harding, Jr., son of the celebrated 
artist and portrait painter of St. Louis, had taken 
position with about 550 men, 25 volunteers and 
militia. At the same time, General Shelby ap- 
proached Glasgow from the opposite side of the 
river and opened fire on the town with artillery. A 
severe battle of seven hours ensued, while the Con- 
federates advanced their lines to favorable positions 

24 Price's report, "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, 
Page 632. 

25 Colonel John B. Clarke, Jr., who commanded the Con- 
federate detachment, says that Harding had 800 or 900 men. 
("Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 682.) 



THE PRICE RAID 59 

for an assault. Colonel Harding, finding himself 
surrounded by a greatly superior force and having 
no hope of reinforcements, finally capitulated on 
liberal terms. His men were paroled and sent back 
to Jefferson City, receiving such kind and consider- 
ate treatment from their captors and the escort 
which conducted them to the Federal lines, that 
General Fisk expressed his gratitude in a note to 
the officer commanding the escort, 26 while Colonel 
Harding mentioned the facts with warm apprecia- 
tion in his official report. 27 It is a sad pity that the 
treatment of prisoners during this campaign was 
not always marked by like generosity and was not 
always deserving of similar gratitude. 

While Shelby and Clarke were engaged at Glas- 
gow, the remainder of the Confederate army con- 
tinued its westward march, capturing successively 
Marshall, Waverly, and Lexington, while Gen. 
M. Jeff. Thompson, by a quick detour with one of 
Shelby's brigades, succeeded in slipping between 
the Federal detachments and taking Sedalia, — at 
that time the western terminus of the Pacific Rail- 
road. 

This portion of his march was a series of easy 
victories for Price, for there were very few Federal 
troops to dispute his progress, as the bulk of the 
forces in western Missouri and in Kansas were con- 

26 "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 685. 

27 "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 438. 



60 PILOT KNOB 

centrated in the vicinity of Kansas City, where they 
hoped to be able to check his advance and prevent 
him from carrying his destructive raid on into Kan- 
sas. Maj.-Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, commanding 
the Department of Kansas, had only a few thou- 
sand United States Volunteers at his disposal and 
these were for the most part distributed over a 
vast extent of territory in the unsettled western 
portion of the State and in eastern Colorado, where 
they were engaged in protecting the roads and the 
scattered military posts from the hostile Indians, 
who during these years were making war on the 
United States from the Canadian border to the Rio 
Grande. When he found positively that Price's 
army was headed toward his department instead of 
turning south again through Missouri, General 
Curtis was compelled to draw into Kansas City as 
many of his widely scattered forces as could be 
spared from the frontier. Their number being 
totally inadequate to meet such an emergency, Gov- 
ernor Carney, of Kansas, called out the State militia 
to aid them. 

The approaching elections had brought political 
feeling to fever heat in Kansas, and many of the 
officers and men of the State militia, doubting, be- 
cause of the lack of public news on the subject, that 
Price was really moving on Kansas, suspected that 
the call to arms was a trick to draw them away from 
their polling places until after election. These 



THE PRICE RAID 61 

groundless suspicions gave rise to much bickering 
and ill-feeling and, coupled with the jealousies of 
the State authorities and their reluctance to cooper- 
ate heartily with the United States officers and 
troops in the field, seriously interfered with the 
effective use of the militia and more than once 
caused the failure of plans or minimized the results 
of success. It was but a proof of the folly of the 
system then prevalent, — now happily superseded by 
a better one, — which permitted the existence of a 
militia obligated to serve only within the limits of 
its own State and amendable to the State authorities 
alone under any and all circumstances. 

The citizen soldiery sent to his assistance by Gov- 
ernor Carney brought Curtis' available forces to 
about 15,000 men. 28 Field intrenchments were 
hastily begun around Kansas City and along the 
west bank of the Big Blue River, in Missouri, which 
had been selected as the first main line of defense. 
On October 13th, Major-General James G. Blunt 
moved from Paola, Kansas, with a mounted force 
of about 2,000 men to Hickman Mills, Mo., and 
thence, on the 17th, to Pleasant Hill. Here he 
learned from fugitives of the capture of Sedalia 
two days before, and he moved his command for- 

28 Captain E. H. Palmer, on Page 441, Vol. IX, "Kansas 
Historical Collections," says that General Curtis had about 
7,000 men, but Curtis himself, who certainly was in a position 
to know, gives the number as above stated in the "Official 
Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 479. 



62 PILOT KNOB 

ward to Holden, where he remained most of the 
day, sending out scouting parties to locate the 
enemy. Becoming convinced that Price's main 
army was north of him, along the Missouri River, 
he made a night march to Lexington and arrived 
there ahead of the enemy, who appeared next morn- 
ing, approaching the city from the east in three 
heavy columns. 

Blunt had sent an urgent appeal to Curtis for 
reinforcements, but, owing to the refusal of the 
Kansas militia to go so far beyond the State line, 
none could be sent. Nevertheless, Blunt put his 
small force into line of battle and, while slowly re- 
tiring before superior numbers, contested the ground 
so stubbornly as to fully develop the enemy's 
strength and dispositions. He finally retired along 
the road to Independence but halted at the crossing 
of the Little Blue River, nine miles east of that 
town, where, on the morning of the 21st, he was 
attacked by Marmaduke's division. Blunt's posi- 
tion was a strong one, and his men fought with such 
dash and courage that he was able not only to hold 
his own but even to drive the enemy back for a 
time. The obstinate character of the righting may 
be judged by the fact that General Marmaduke had 
three horses shot under him. 29 Had reinforce- 
ments been available, Blunt might have checked the 
westward march of the Confederates at the Little 

29 John N. Edwards, " Shelby and His Men," Page 345- 



THE PRICE RAID 63 

Blue and turned them southward, saving Kansas 
from invasion and preventing the sanguinary battles 
of the two following days. But again the puerile 
conduct of the Kansas militia caused him to be left 
unsupported while, on the other hand, Shelby soon 
came to the assistance of Marmaduke. Blunt was 
driven back, retreating through Independence and 
across the Big Blue, where he halted in the position 
previously prepared. At this point General Curtis 
had already assembled the remainder of his forces, 
chiefly militia, which fortunately had waived its 
sovereign rights sufficiently to venture thus far into 
Missouri. The Federal line extended from the 
Missouri nearly to Hickman Mills, a distance of 
fifteen or sixteen miles. General Blunt took com- 
mand of the right wing, stretching from the main 
road between Independence and Kansas City, and 
south to Hickman Mills and Gen. George W. Deitz- 
ler commanded the left wing, reaching from the 
road to the Missouri. 

In. the meanwhile the troops of General Rosecrans 
had been following Price closely; his cavalry, now 
considerably reenforced and under the personal com- 
mand of General Pleasanton, having forced the 
Confederate rear-guard out of Lexington on the 
night of October 20th, hardly thirty-six hours after 
Blunt had been driven from the town by their ad- 
vance. On the 2 1st, while Blunt was fighting at 
the Little Blue, Pleasanton was following the 



64 PILOT KNOB 

enemy's rear toward that stream; while General 
Smith's division, to which Mower's was now joined, 
with 9,000 infantry and five batteries, was near 
Chapel Hill, some twenty-four miles southwest of 
Lexington, and was marching toward Hickman 
Mills to strike the enemy's line of retreat to Ar- 
kansas. Had Smith continued on this route he 
would have reached Hickman Mills in time to have 
either entirely intercepted Price or, at least, to have 
struck his columns and long wagon-train in flank, 
when, with Curtis and Pleasanton pressing its rear, 
the Confederate army would in all probability have 
been utterly destroyed. But General Pleasanton 
now made a serious error of judgment. Believing 
the whole of the enemy to be in his front, and know- 
ing nothing of the exact whereabouts of Curtis, he 
sent a message to Rosecrans, urgently requesting 
that Smith be sent to his support at Independence, 
— a request which was complied with. Conse- 
quently, when the enemy retreated next day they 
found their route open; and though strenuous ef- 
forts were made by forced marches to recover the 
lost position on their flank, these efforts proved un- 
successful. 

The morning of the 22nd of October found the 
Confederates feeling the front of Curtis' long line 
of defense for a weak spot. Shelby soon discovered 
one at Byram's Ford, about the center of Blunt's 
position, where he broke through Jennison's brigade 



THE PRICE RAID 65 

and advanced, though not without fierce fighting, 
nearly to Westport, just south of Kansas City. In 
his advance, Shelby cut off Gen. M. S. Grant's 
brigade of Kansas Militia, which retreated in con- 
fusion to Olathe, Kansas, losing many men and one 
field piece, captured. The entire Federal right was 
forced back toward Westport; the most important 
result of the advantage thus gained by the Confed- 
erates being that it gave them possession of the State 
Line Road and permitted their immense wagon- 
train to cross the Big Blue and retreat southward on 
its west side, unmolested by Rosecrans' troops which 
were coming from the east. During the day Gen- 
eral Cabell's brigade, of Fagan's division, which 
was guarding the Confederate rear along the Little 
Blue, was driven back by the brigades of McNeil 
and of Sanborn, of Pleasanton's cavalry, and in re- 
treating through Independence suffered a loss of 
two guns and 400 men. 

Price was now fighting in front and rear, and 
was hard pressed. Marmaduke's division went to 
Cabell's aid, but the brigades of Brown and of Win- 
slow also joined Sanborn and McNeil, and the com- 
bined Federal cavalry, charging repeatedly, drove 
the enemy slowly backward to the Big Blue, and 
then beyond it. The fighting continued long after 
nightfall, and along the widely extended line the im- 
penetrable darkness was illuminated for hours by 
the flash of carbines and of field-guns. On the side 



66 PILOT KNOB 

of Curtis, after Blunt's line had been broken, Gen- 
eral Deitzler had evacuated the line of the Big Blue, 
and had fallen back within the intrenchments of 
Kansas City. Blunt occupied the north bank of 
Brush Creek, two miles south of Westport; Shelby 
had taken up his position on the opposite side of the 
creek, his left extending nearly to the Shawnee Mis- 
sion, Kansas. By extending his line westward, 
Shelby made persistent efforts to envelope Blunt's 
right, but without success. 

Early on the morning of the 23rd, a general ad- 
vance was begun by the Federals along Brush Creek. 
Shelby resisted stoutly and, being reenforced by a 
part of Fagan's division, even forced his opponents 
back. The battle extended over an area of five or 
six square miles; and the fighting was desperate, 
forty or fifty guns sometimes being in action at 
once. 30 But fresh bodies of Federal troops, drawn 
from Deitzler, continued to arrive on the field and, 
supported by some thirty pieces of artillery, they 
crossed the creek and pushed the enemy steadily 
southward along the State Line Road toward Fort 
Scott. Among the combatants on the Federal side 
were both of the United States senators from Kan- 
sas, James H. Lane and Samuel C. Pomeroy. 

Matters were going badly with the Confederates. 
At an early hour in the morning, Marmaduke, who 

30 Wiley Britton, Page 377, Vol. IV, "Battles and Leaders 
of the Civil War." (The Century Co., New York.) 



THE PRICE RAID 67 

was holding the line of the Big Blue, was attacked 
by Pleasanton and driven from his position to the 
open prairie beyond. A little later a Federal flank- 
ing column appeared abreast of the retreating Con- 
federate wagon-train, which seemed in imminent 
danger of capture. But General Price, who hap- 
pened to be on this part of the field, bethinking him- 
self of a stratagem similar to that employed by the 
Swiss at the battle of the Stoss, ordered the un- 
armed recruits, — who to the number of several 
thousand had been formed into a brigade under Col. 
Charles H. Tyler, — to form line of battle between 
the Federals and the train. The formidable ap- 
pearance presented by this body in the distance 
caused the Federals to hesitate, and before they 
could utilize their advantage, Cabell's brigade 
reached the scene and the imperiled train was saved 
for the time being. Marmaduke's defeat had pre- 
cipitated yet another danger upon the embarrassed 
Confederates; but Shelby, resourceful and undis- 
mayed, turning suddenly from his fight on the left, 
charged impetuously into Pleasanton and checked 
him long enough to allow Marmaduke to again 
bring his men into some semblance of order. 

Moving upon converging lines, the forces of 
Curtis and Pleasanton united about 2 p. m. and con- 
tinued to follow the enemy to Little Santa Fe, where 
the Federal army rested that night. The next day 
General Curtis relieved from further duty such of 



68 PILOT KNOB 

the Kansas militia as resided north of the Kansas 
River, and General Rosecrans ordered his infantry 
to give up the pursuit; such of them as belonged to 
his own department returned to their respective 
posts, while those of General Smith went to St. 
Louis, whence they were speedily transferred to 
General Thomas' army at Nashville. The pursuit 
was continued by Curtis and Pleasanton with the 
cavalry of their commands. 

Practically all of the principal streams along the 
southern part of the Missouri-Kansas border flow 
in a generally easterly direction, falling from the 
high plateau country of Kansas toward the Mis- 
souri. Since Price in his retreat followed quite 
closely along the State line, the numerous streams 
which he crossed afforded excellent natural barriers 
for rear-guard action. The first stream of which 
Price attempted to take adyantage was the Marais 
des Cygnes, behind which he went into camp with 
the intention of resting his troops, intrusting to Mar- 
maduke's division the protection of the rear. Be- 
fore dawn of the 25th, Sanborn came up and 
charged suddenly and unexpectedly, routing the 
Confederates from the river bank and from their 
camp, and capturing much of the camp equipage. 
The Federals pressed their advantage vigorously, 
and soon overtook the enemy again at Mine Creek, 
a tributary of the Little Osage River. The Con- 
federate wagon-train was meeting with delay at the 



THE PRICE RAID 69 

crossing of the Little Osage, a few miles beyond, 
and Marmaduke's and Fagan's divisions, supported 
by five guns, made a stand in the hope of throwing 
back the pursuit decisively. But the Federals were 
in strong force and elated with success. Benteen's 
brigade and Philips' brigade were leading the ad- 
vance. They at once charged furiously, Philips 
striking the enemy's center while Benteen fell upon 
the Confederates' right and enveloped it. 

It was all over in a moment. The Confederate 
line broke and fled in utter rout, losing eight guns 
and some 600 men, including General Marmaduke 
and General Cabell, five colonels, and many other 
officers. The flood of fugitives poured back upon 
the wagon-train, General Price and General Fagan 
vainly striving to rally them. Once more Shelby, 
whose division was acting as advance-guard was 
called upon to save Price's army. Riding back past 
the train and through the broken masses of the other 
two divisions, Shelby's men formed line of battle 
just north of the Little Osage. It was nearing sun- 
set and Shelby could hope for nothing more than to 
hold the Federals in check until night should com- 
pel them to forego the attack. Fighting against 
superior numbers with a courage all the more ad- 
mirable in view of the demoralization of the rest of 
the army, Shelby's division, supported after a time 
by Dobbin's brigade, of Fagan's division, which had 
rallied, slowly fell back across the Little Osage, and 



70 PILOT KNOB 

thence over several intervening miles to the Marmi- 
ton River, holding his line intact under repeated 
attacks until night ended the conflict. 

The scene, as the brief October twilight closed 
down over this vast arena of war, was sublime and 
awe-inspiring. Few battlefields of history have 
possessed similar elements of grandeur. The coun- 
try over which the armies were contending was a 
seemingly limitless and gently rolling plain, with 
scarcely a house or even a fence in view and broken 
only at long intervals by the timber-fringed depres- 
sion marking the course of some sluggish stream. 
There were no obstructions to hinder the movements 
of the opposing forces, which, being composed ex- 
clusively of cavalry, careered hither and thither 
across the wide expanse with bewildering rapidity. 
Now here and now there a sheet of flame punctuated 
the gathering dusk as a volley rattled along the front 
of some regiment or a shell swooped down like a line 
of phosphorus drawn across the purpling sky. Into 
this wilderness land was suddenly precipitated the 
frenzied conflict of nearly 20,000 men; and as they 
swept steadily southward their masses were some- 
times blotted from view in the billows of smoke, and 
sometimes fitfully revealed in the red glare arising 
from the huge prairie fires which, kindled by the 
Confederates in the dry grasses, were spreading 
their vivid, tossing lines of fire across the country 



THE PRICE RAID 71 

in every direction. Many abandoned and burning 
wagons of the Confederate train were adding their 
light to the universal conflagration in the woods 
along the Marmiton, that lovely and peaceful stream 
of which the poet of Kansas, "Ironquill" (Major 
Eugene F. Ware) has so beautifully said: 

"Thy purple sheen, through prairies green, 
From out the burning west is seen. 
I watch thy fine, approaching line 
That seems to flow like blood-red wine 
Fresh from the vintage of the sun. 
The spokes of steel and blue reveal 
The outlines of a phantom wheel, 
While airy armies, one by one, 
March out on dress-parade. 
I see enrolled, in blue and gold, 
The guidons where the line is made, 
And where the lazy zephyrs strolled 
Along thy verdant esplanade, 
I see the crested, neighing herd 
Go plunging to the stream." 

It was for but a brief space that the peaceful 
slumber of the Marmiton was rudely broken by the 
headlong rout of war, for the retreat and pursuit 
passed the stream like a nightmare and rolled on 
southward. Though it had been saved from total 
destruction by the gallantry of the rear-guard, the 
morale of the Confederate army was ruined, as was 
frankly admitted by Price's Adjutant-General, 
Lieut.-Col. Lauchlan A. Maclean, in his official 



72 PILOT KNOB 

itinerary of the campaign. 31 The great number of 
wagons burned at the Marmiton were destroyed, 
General Price says, because of "broken down teams 
which could not be replaced ;" 32 which was doubt- 
less true so far as it went, though many more were 
unquestionably destroyed simply to shorten the train 
and increase its mobility. 

The flight, for such it had now become, after a 
very few hours of rest, was resumed from the Mar- 
miton at 2 o'clock on the morning of the 26th. 
At this point the armies lay at a distance of only 
six miles from Fort Scott, the last important Fed- 
eral post in southern Kansas, and one which Gen- 
eral Curtis had feared would be overwhelmed by 
the Confederates, since it lay directly in their path 
and because its garrison was small. But for some 
reason, — probably because of the panic, — Price 
deflected to the eastward on approaching Fort Scott, 
and it was spared. Exhausted as the Confederates 
were, Curtis' men and Pleasanton's were scarcely 
less so ; for the pursuit thus far had been as relent- 
less as the pursuit from Moscow of the Grand Army 
by Kutusoff's Cossacks. Most of the Federals, — 
drawn irresistibly by the desire for food, shelter, 
and a little respite from the cold and inclement 
weather, — turned aside at the Marmiton and, re- 
gardless of orders, marched into Fort Scott, where 

31 "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 646. 

32 "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 637. 



THE PRICE RAID 73 

were large depots of supplies. 33 As General Curtis 
realized, they made a great mistake in doing so. 
Supplies could have been sent to them in the field, 
and by alternating the brigades in leading the pur- 
suit, sufficient rest might have been afforded to all. 
A continuation of the sledge-hammer blows dealt 
to the enemy in the last three days would have as- 
sured the destruction of the Confederate Army. 
Instead, Price was allowed unmolested to flee fifty- 
six miles the next day, scattering quantities of equip- 
ments, arms, wagons, and numbers of exhausted 
men and horses all along the way, and finally to en- 
camp at Carthage, south of Spring River, almost 
beyond pursuit. 

Price's troops had been suffering keenly for food ; 
but a limited supply was obtained at Carthage, and 
after a few hours' rest he resumed his march, with 
his men in slightly better condition than before, 
since no enemy had appeared. General Blunt, how- 
ever, with two brigades, caught up with the Con- 
federates again at Newtonia, where they had halted 
on the afternoon of the 28th. With more courage 
than discretion he charged, but encountered Shelby, 
whose troops were the only ones left to Price ca- 
pable of safeguarding the rear. A stubborn fight 
ensued, in which Blunt, unsupported, was distinctly 
worsted, falling back several miles under pressure 

ss Curtis' report, "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, 
Page 502. 



74 PILOT KNOB 

before night closed the engagement. 34 Had Blunt's 
entire division been closed up instead of being 
scattered for a good many miles in his rear when 
he made the attack, such a reverse need not have 
occurred. As it was, the final opportunity for the 
total destruction of Price's army was irretrievably 
lost. That night General Pleasanton received an 
order from General Rosecrans to abandon the pur- 
suit with the troops from the Department of the 
Missouri, and to return with them to Warrensburg, 
— an order which he promptly obeyed. General 
Curtis, who was with Blunt at the head of the chase, 
deeming the latter's division with less than 1,000 
weary men, 35 too weak to follow Price alone 
through the sterile and sparsely peopled mountain 
regions of Northwestern Arkansas, which would un- 
questionably be swept clean of supplies by the fam- 
ished Confederate host, also came to a halt. On 
the 29th Blunt's division moved to Neosho, prepara- 
tory to returning to Kansas. But the next day Gen- 
eral Curtis, having received peremptory orders from 
Lieutenant-General Grant that " Price be pursued to 
the Arkansas River, or at least till he encounters 
Steele or Reynolds," 36 resumed the pursuit after a 
lapse of thirty-six hours. 

34 See reports of General Curtis (Page 508), General Blunt 
(Page 577), and General Shelby (Page 661), all in Part I, 
Vol. XLI, "Official Records." 

as "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 511. 

»« "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part IV, Page 301. 



THE PRICE RAID 75 

The Confederates left Missouri almost at its 
southwestern corner and thence followed the western 
line of Arkansas until, deflecting a little to the east, 
they encamped at Cane Hill, now called Boones- 
boro. Here Price, — receiving word from Col. Wil- 
liam H. Brooks that he had closely invested the 
town of Fayetteville, some sixteen miles northeast 
of Cane Hill, — detached a force of 500 men and 
two guns from Shelby's division and sent it, under 
command of General Fagan, to Brook's assistance. 
But Col. M. La Rue Harrison, the Federal com- 
mander at Fayetteville, repulsed their combined at- 
tacks until the arrival on November 4th of Curtis 
and Blunt, who, reenforced by Benteen's brigade, 
and avoiding Price's direct route, had come into 
Arkansas further to the eastward by way of Keets- 
ville, Mo., and Pea Ridge, Ark. The Confederate 
detachments then withdrew to Cane Hill, and re- 
joined the main body, which continued its retreat 
toward the southwest, entering the Indian Territory 
and crossing the Arkansas River some distance west 
of Fort Smith, a Federal post so strongly garri- 
soned that the enemy feared to approach it. Curtis 
followed them right up to the bank of the Arkansas, 
where the pursuit was finally abandoned on Novem- 
ber 7th. 

During the marches southward from Newtonia 
both armies had suffered keenly from lack of food 
and had endured great hardships in toiling over the 



?6 PILOT KNOB 

wretched mountain roads through an almost con- 
tinuous succession of cold autumn storms of rain 
and snow. But when General Price, — fearing to 
carry his army eastward across the Arkansas be- 
tween Fort Smith and Little Rock, on account of 
the large Federal garrisons at those points, — moved 
instead out into the desolate Indian country, he 
placed his men in a far worse plight than any that 
they had yet faced. The 8th of November, 1864, 
— that election day on which his army had confi- 
dently hoped to be firmly established in Missouri, 
proudly dictating from Jefferson City the allegiance 
of the State to the Southern Confederacy, — found 
it broken and dispirited, starting out upon a terrible 
march through a desolate, wintery wilderness: a 
fitting climax to the long series of disasters which 
had marked its meteoric exit from Missouri. 

Many of Price's men, it is true, were left behind 
in Arkansas or just west of its border, "on fur- 
lough, with orders to report again inside the Con- 
federate lines during the month of December," 37 
though probably most of them, discouraged both 
by the results of the expedition and by the general 
aspect of Southern affairs, failed to do so. But 
those wretched followers who still remained with 
him on his march to Perryville, thence to Boggy 
Depot, in the Choctaw Nation, and thence across 

37 Price's Report, "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, 
Page 639. 



THE PRICE RAID jj 

the Red River into Texas, were compelled to un- 
dergo the severest hardships, facing bitter storms 
on the shelterless plains, and going for days to- 
gether without food either for themselves or for 
their horses. One officer, Col. Colton Greene, com- 
manding Marmaduke's old brigade, reported that 
for twenty days between the Arkansas and Boggy 
Depot the troops subsisted on meat alone, without 
salt, and that for three days during that time they 
had no food at all, 3S while Col. J. F. Davis, com- 
manding the 7th Missouri Cavalry, stated that 
from the time the army left Cane Hill until it 
crossed Red River, no forage was issued for the 
horses, which subsisted upon the dead prairie 
grass alone. After undergoing such an experience 
the deplorable condition of the army when it ar- 
rived in Texas, may be imagined. At that point, 
however, having again reached a region compara- 
tively cultivated, its needs were in some measure 
supplied and, turning eastward, it marched by way 
of Bonham, Paris, and Clarksville, Texas, to 
Laynesport, Ark., where its fragments arrived on 
or about December 2nd. Aside from Shelby's 
division, the troops which had invaded Missouri 
were of little more service during the short con- 
tinuance of the war. The great raid put a period 
to their usefulness and disintegrated their organiza- 
tion. 
38 "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 692. 



78 PILOT KNOB 

Since starting from Camden on August 28th, 
General Price estimated that he had marched one 
thousand four hundred and thirty-four miles, 
fought forty-three battles and skirmishes, captured 
and paroled over three thousand Federal officers 
and men, gained 5,000 recruits, and destroyed rail- 
road and public property to the value of $10,000,- 
000.00. 39 The injury done to private life and 
property by his partisan adherents throughout Mis- 
souri during the same period cannot be estimated, 
though it was vast. But, whether any of General 
Price's estimates be exaggerated or not, it is certain 
that he had lost far more than he had gained. In 
all his main objects he had failed. The permanent 
occupation of Missouri had not been accomplished; 
St. Louis and Jefferson City had not been occupied ; 
the damage he had done to the railroads was soon 
repaired. More important than all, he had lost the 
prestige of victory, which, in the period of political 
agitation prevalent at the time of his raid, was a far 
more serious loss to the interests of the Confederacy 
and a far greater gain to the cause of the Union than 
can be calculated in figures. 

During Price's absence from Arkansas the affairs 
of the South had gone from bad to worse. Sher- 
man had almost completed his march to the sea; 
Sheridan had finally cleared the Shenandoah Valley 
and had crushed the army of Early; Thomas was 

39 "Official Records," Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 640. 



THE PRICE RAID 79 

holding Nashville where he was soon to utterly de- 
stroy Hood's army, — in short, the Confederacy 
was disintegrating. Price had accomplished noth- 
ing that could cast a ray of hope across that lower- 
ing sky. It is, of course, unquestionable that no 
success he could possibly have attained would have 
altered the final outcome. But great results some- 
times flow from comparatively insignificant causes. 
He might, by a series of victories, have materially 
changed the verdict of the national elections and 
thus have deferred the triumph of the union 
through more weary months of suffering and blood- 
shed and outpouring of millions of treasure. It 
was at Pilot Knob that he was rendered, and ren- 
dered himself, impotent to achieve such a series of 
victories. Who can say how great is the debt of 
gratitude which the Nation owes to that handful 
of men who broke the backbone of the great raid 
before it was fairly begun, the valiant, unsung 
heroes of Pilot Knob? 



THE DONIPHAN SCOUT 

On September 19th, 1864, the divisions of Gen- 
eral Price's army which were beginning the in- 
vasion of Missouri were advancing in three columns 
of division, — the better to obtain forage, — from 
Pocahontas, Arkansas, upon Fredericktown, Mis- 
souri. Major-General Fagan's division, with 
which General Price kept his headquarters, was 
marching in the center, by way of Martinsburg, 
Reeve's Station and Greenville. Major-General 
Marmaduke's division, on the right, was moving 
by Poplar Bluff, Dallas, and Greenfield. Brigadier- 
General Shelby's division was approaching Fred- 
ericktown via Doniphan and Patterson, and had 
just reached the former point. 

Save for the small garrisons at Cape Girardeau 
and Pilot Knob and their outposts and patrols there 
were no Union troops in front of Price, and even 
these small detachments had but a vague idea of 
his position and intentions. Indeed, the opinion 
still largely prevailed in Missouri that General Price 
was still in southern Arkansas and that, if any 
force at all was contemplating the invasion of Mis- 
souri, it was a small one and bent merely upon a 
plundering foray. Nevertheless, Maj. James Wil- 

80 



THE DONIPHAN SCOUT 81 

son, commanding the Union garrison at Pilot 
Knob, was on the alert, as were his outposts far to 
the southward of that position. One of these out- 
posts, — under Capt. Robert McElroy, Third M. 
S. M. Cavalry, — was stationed at Patterson, thirty- 
five miles south, from which point a party consist- 
ing of eighty-six officers and men from Companies 
D, K and I, 3rd Missouri State Militia Cavalry, and 
Company H, 47th Missouri Volunteer Infantry, 
Mounted, under command of Lieut. Erich Pape, 
3rd Missouri State Militia Cavalry, moved out on 
the 1 8th of September to reconnoiter the country 
as far south as Doniphan. Sergt. J. C. Steakley, 
Company K, 3rd M. S. M. 1 gives the following 
account of the incidents of the scout: 

"On Sunday morning, September 18th, we were 
in our saddles early and on the march, still in a 
southwesterly course, and inarched all day, stop- 
ping and camping at the Dildine farm, twelve or 
fifteen miles northwest of Doniphan. After taking 
refreshments and feeding our horses, we all lay 
down for a little rest except the pickets and camp 
guard. About 1 1 :oo p. m. the word "boots and 
saddles" was whispered in each man's ear, not 
blown as usual by the bugle. All sprang up and in 
ten minutes were in their saddles and on their way 

1 The abbreviation "M. S. M." will be used henceforth to 
designate Missouri State Militia. 



82 PILOT KNOB 

straight for Doniphan and at the first appearance of 
dawn on that beautiful Monday morning of Septem- 
ber 19th, we were within a mile of the town. From 
that on it was practically a charge, for we wanted 
to strike the town a little before day and surprise 
the enemy if possible. But it was broad daylight 
when we charged through the streets, the Confeder- 
ates going helter-skelter in every direction. We 
charged with a will and it would have been un- 
necessary for us to strike any earlier, for the enemy 
did not pretend to stand and fight. It was reported 
to us that there were one hundred and sixty of the 
enemy whom we ran out of town and across a 
bridge over Current River. They tore up the 
bridge and a few of us, possibly twenty, charging 
down to it, saw that they must have thought our 
horses would fly or jump over the stream, for they 
never stopped until they were on the bluffs south of 
the river. 

"Our little band, having nothing further to do 
in town, gathered together and started in pursuit 
of the enemy, or anything else that had 'fight' in 
it. We crossed Current River about one mile above 
the town and while most of our squad were midway 
in the river, it was amusing to see the rebs spitting 
away at us from their last stand on the bluffs. 
Their rifle and musket balls struck the water around 
us like the pebbles of schoolboys and we gave them 
about the same attention we would have given to 



THE DONIPHAN SCOUT 83 

pebbles, for the men let their horses quench their 
thirst as if there were nothing the matter. We 
followed the enemy about four miles south of Doni- 
phan, where we came upon the site of their camp. 
Everything here showed a hasty evacuation and, 
after satisfying ourselves that there was no occupa- 
tion for us thereabouts, we turned on our trail and 
came back through Doniphan, going thence in a 
northeast direction and camping Monday night at 
the Vandiver farm, on Little Black River. 

"Reconnoitering squads were sent in different 
directions from camp that evening, going two or 
three miles. Everything being quiet, pickets out, 
horses fed and our suppers eaten, such as they 
were, we retired for the night. Tuesday morning, 
Lieut. Erich Pape directed the men to saddle up 
and fall in, expecting to set out on our day's 
journey. I was in charge of some prisoners and 
was directed where to form the prisoners and my 
squad of guards for the march. Possibly forty 
men had formed in line when, 'Spang! Sci — z!' 
came a ball from the north. It is needless for me 
to say that we knew 'the tingle of the bell.' There 
was high stirring until the men were in line of 
battle, for some had not even saddled yet. The 
enemy, during the previous night, had surrounded 
us on the east, north and west, and their first shot 
killed a gray horse of John Davis, Co. D, 3rd M. 
S. M. 



84 PILOT KNOB 

"The enemy made their attack from the north, 
where they were formed in a terrible thicket of tim- 
ber, large and small, interlaced with underbrush. 
They were about one hundred and fifty yards from 
us. We charged at once and they countercharged. 
We were fighting up an ordinary 'point' ridge, high 
in the center, and by the time our third charge had 
been made our command had become divided, most 
of the men being on the west slope of the ridge, 
and seventeen only on the east slope of the back- 
bone. I suppose that it was at about this time that 
Second Lieut. William Brawner, Co. K, Third 
M. S. M. Cavalry was mortally wounded. He 
died some time that night. Serg. Simon U. Bran- 
stetter, Co. I, was also wounded and left on the 
ground. I believe that Corporal Gourley and 
Private William Skeggs, Co. I, were also captured 
there. The two latter, together with two others 
whose names I do not now recall, were shot with 
Major Wilson. I learned that the Confederates 
stripped Sergeant Branstetter 2 and left him for 

2 It is much to be regretted that Sergeant Branstetter's 
diary, which he kept throughout the war, is not available for 
direct quotation. His experience after the fight at Vandiver's 
Farm, however, was probably one of the most thrilling and 
remarkable that happened to any soldier during the Civil War 
and as such it deserves a brief description here. 

Sergeant Branstetter was in command of the detachment 
of Co. I, Third M. S. M. Cavalry, which accompanied Lieu- 
tenant Pape to Doniphan, and at Vandiver's Farm his horse 
was shot under him and he was captured. He was armed 



THE DONIPHAN SCOUT 85 

dead, but he got up and walked to Cape Girardeau, 
Mo., and I saw him the following winter in St. 
Joseph, looking none the worse for the wear. 

"I do not know what took place on the west side 
of the ridge after our force became divided. We 
seventeen men on the east side had enough to 
employ us, for we were only about thirty yards 
from the Confederates and plenty of them in front 
of us, too. I glanced around and saw that I was 
the only officer of any rank there. 

only with a pistol and as soon as he gave that up to his 
captors one of the latter shot him down, the ball passing 
through his right lung and coming out at the back. It 
knocked him senseless for a time, and when his senses re- 
turned he found himself covered with blood, which was spurt- 
ing from his mouth and nose at every breath, while his 
captors were stripping him of his clothes. They took every- 
thing but a calico shirt and would have taken that had not 
some of their number objected to robbing a dead man of 
his last garment and that already saturated with blood. Soon 
they abandoned him for dead and prepared and ate their 
breakfast. After they had finished Branstetter heard the call 
for a detail of burying squads to inter two of their own men 
and two "Feds." 

While the enemy were at breakfast, Branstetter, unobserved, 
had crawled to a log and lain down beside it, thinking it 
would afford him some protection in case they should ride 
indiscriminately over the field. There he lay very quietly on 
his back, and presently four men with picks and shovels came 
to bury him. They remarked that he was still breathing and 
one of them proposed to kindly dispatch him with a shot, but 
others objected, saying that they would soon return and find 
him dead. Shortly they returned and the same performance 
was repeated. When they came the third time, one of the 



86 PILOT KNOB 

" 'Let's charge them once again !' I shouted. 

"We did it, and then I yelled: 

" 'Come on, boys, let's give 'em h — 1 ! They're 
running!' 

"Oh, how badly we needed our sabres and how 
we wanted them! The seventeen of us dashed 
right into their midst. But we were not fighting 

squad swore he would stop the "Yank" from breathing so 
that he could be buried and prepared to shoot him but was 
prevented by the foreman of the squad. Meanwhile the Ser- 
geant lay with his eyes partly closed so that he could peep 
between the lids; he was breathing very slowly. After a 
short discussion the burial squad decided to cover him over 
with fence rails and proceeded to lay a number of them with 
one end resting on the log and the other end on the ground so 
that they did not touch his body. Leaving him there to ex- 
pire, the enemy's entire command mounted and rode away. 

Branstetter waited for about an hour after everything had 
become quiet around him, then pushed the rails aside with his 
left hand, his right arm having been paralyzed by the shot 
through his right breast. Seeing that there was no one near, 
he arose and plodded away through the woods toward the 
northeast, clad only in his bloody shirt. After going about a 
mile he found the sharp flints of the ground were cutting his 
feet so badly that he could not go on, so he sat down and 
pulled off his shirt with his left hand, tore it in two and 
wrapped his feet in the pieces. Then he went on across the 
country, stopping now and then at small streams he chanced 
to cross to take a drink of water and bathe the gaping wound 
in his right breast, which was still bleeding. As night came 
on he realized that he would freeze to death in his stark 
nakedness unless he could get into some kind of shelter, so 
he took the first cow-path he came to, leading down a ravine. 
It led him to the vicinity of a farmhouse and he lay down 
in concealment until twilight, when he approached the house 



THE DONIPHAN SCOUT 87 

'paper collars' or 'greenies'; we were fighting Joe 
Shelby's veterans, who knew nothing but fight. I 
emptied a double-barrelled shot-gun and two eight- 
inch revolvers at them and then called to the men 
to stop and form and load up, as I knew that their 
weapons were about all as empty as my own. Fir- 
ing had almost ceased on the west side of the ridge. 

from the rear and called out for help. A little girl came out 
and, seeing only his head above a rail fence behind which he 
was standing, exclaimed: 

"My papa has never done anything at all. He ain't a 
soldier." 

Branstetter asked the child to go to the house and ask her 
papa to come out and talk to him. 

The proprietor of the place, a man named Scott, came out, 
and stepping up to the fence, found himself confronting a 
naked man covered with blood and with a large gunshot 
wound in his chest. He nearly swooned at this terrible sight 
almost at his back door. Branstetter told him he was a Fed- 
eral soldier, wounded and left for dead in a fight at Van- 
diver's Farm that morning. Mr. Scott could scarcely believe 
that a man could have walked such a distance in his condition, 
for the Scott farm was seven miles from Vandiver's. Mr. 
Scott helped Branstetter into the house, made a rude pallet 
and laid the wounded man upon it, covering him with a quilt 
so that the family could enter the same room. 

Scott was a Southern sympathizer and his son was in the 
Confederate army, but later in the evening he put Bran- 
stetter to bed and bathed his wound until after midnight, 
when, at the Sergeant's request, he retired and left the latter 
alone. Early next morning Scott dressed the sergeant in an 
old shirt and pair of trousers and when the head of Price's 
column appeared, he again placed Branstetter on a pallet on 
the floor, instructing him to pretend he was almost dying, 
lest some of Price's men murder him where he lay. All day 



88 PILOT KNOB 

We formed and began to load up, when, it seemed 
as if providentially, I dropped the pistol caps which 
belonged with a bunch of cartridges. I slid from 
my saddle and while stooping to pick them up, hap- 
pened to glance beneath the underbrush toward our 

long while Fagan's division was passing the place a throng 
of Confederate soldiers was constantly in the house to see the 
wounded Federal. Many of them wanted to mercifully dis- 
patch him with a shot, but Scott prevailed upon them to let 
the man die rather than commit the crime of murder. Late 
in the afternoon, when Price's staff passed the place, Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Maclean entered the house and after a good 
deal of bluster gave Branstetter a parole at his own request. 

For ten days the wounded man lay in Mr. Scott's house, 
gradually gaining a little strength as his wound slowly healed. 
Then he got up and practiced walking across the floor for a 
few hours, when he decided that he could make his way 
across country to Cape Girardeau. He was equipped with a 
hat and a pair of shoes by some of the neighbors, and started 
forth. At a house he passed, he begged an old coat and 
went on quietly, assuming to be a sick Confederate soldier 
who had fallen behind Price's command and was trying to 
catch up with it. Finally he reached Jackson, in Cape 
Girardeau County, and then Cape Girardeau itself, where he 
went to a hospital, eventually recovering and returning to his 
command. 

In his "Itinerary of Price's Army" ("Official Records," 
Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 644), under date of September 21st, 
1864, Lieutenant-Colonel Lauchlan A. Maclean, Price's Adju- 
tant-General, says, "Marched to Cane Creek; forage abun- 
dant ; heard from Marmaduke ; forty-two miles on march 
last night; found a Federal who had crawled from the fight 
yesterday to a house on the roadside." The Federal last 
mentioned was Branstetter. How many thousand thrilling 
stories are hidden behind the brief, stilted phrases of the 
"Official Records of the War of the Rebellion !" 



THE DONIPHAN SCOUT 89 

camping place of the night before. What did I 
see but one hundred or more of the enemy advanc- 
ing upon us in line of battle. It was evidently an- 
other command which had come up the river, heard 
the firing, found our camp, and pursued us up the 
ridge on our rear. I picked up that bunch of pistol 
caps, sprang into my saddle, and shouted : 

" 'Boys, this won't do. Look yonder. Let's get 
out of here !' 

"Our guns were empty. I directed one of my 
company buglers to run out eastward about one 
mile and stop, so that we might load, none of us 
having even two chambers of a pistol loaded. I 
learned subsequently that the bugler and a private 
who went with him never stopped till they reached 
Poplar Bluff, fifteen miles or more away. How- 
ever, it seemed to me that that mile was a little long, 
so I ordered Joseph W. Myers, who was on the 
fastest horse in the squad, to run after the men and 
to knock the first one off his horse who refused to 
stop. The rest of us kept on along the Poplar 
Bluff road in single file, and after we had covered 
about one and a half miles we checked up, formed 
line about one hundred and fifty yards from the 
road, and proceeded to load. 

"When all had loaded, I asked them what they 
wanted to do. We knew nothing of the whereabouts 
of the rest of our company or whether they were all 
captured or killed. We only knew that they had 



9 o PILOT KNOB 

gone to the west or northwest and that we had cut 
our way through the line of the enemy, partly ow- 
ing to the fact that his attention was directed to our 
left flank. That is why, if we had had our sabres, 
we would have been able in the dense underbrush 
to slaughter them in the confusion; for they were 
mounted, their lines were in no sort of order, and 
their long guns were empty. However, the four- 
teen men with me said they would follow me where- 
ever I went. I assured them that if they did, I 
would take them out safely or die in the attempt. 
So we started nearly due north, following no road 
at all but traveling for about fifteen miles over 
rocky, pine-covered hills until we struck the old 
military road leading from Pilot Knob to Little 
Rock, Ark. We came upon it at Reeve's Station, 
about one and a half miles south of the crossing 
of Big Black River, and there we found a fresh 
trail which, though we were not sure, we rather 
thought had been made by some of our own men. 
We had suffered no casualties in the skirmish ex- 
cept that the horse of John W. Pritchet, Co. K. was 
struck in the hip, and the hat cord of Joseph W. 
Myers, who was riding by my side as we ran out, 
was cut in two by a bullet. Pritchet's wounded 
horse carried him for about twenty miles before 
giving out, when his rider exchanged for another. 
"A short distance south of Reeve's Station we 



THE DONIPHAN SCOUT 91 

stopped long enough to feed and eat a bite ourselves. 
It was prepared for us by a good woman who did 
not say whether she liked us or not. We did not 
ask her but she acted the lady with us and we, of 
course, tried to do justice to her 'grub pile.' 
Toward night, when we were about twelve miles 
southwest of Patterson, King Tinin, of Co. I, be- 
came so sick that he could not ride. To leave him 
behind was out of the question, so at the first farm 
house I ir/ormed the men that I would stop there 
and stay with Comrade Tinin if no one else would. 
Four others, however, stopped with us, including 
the sick man's brother, John Tinin, and the balance 
of our little squad went on to Patterson that night. 
"The farmer at the house where we stopped 
proved to be a Union man, with four sons in the 
Union army at that time. He told us to make our- 
selves at home and if we would stay over night with 
him he would sleep in his own house for the first 
time in three years. We did so and were well 
treated, each of us standing guard alternately 
through the night. His daughters and wife had 
breakfast ready for us before light next morning 
and we ate heartily and fed our horses. Our host 
would accept no pay, but thanked us for staying 
with him. Comrade Tinin being better, we were 
all in our saddles by dawn and after traveling about 
a mile came to the dry bed of a creek, where, look- 



92 PILOT KNOB 

ing to the right, I saw a man on foot who looked 
like a Union soldier. He made friendly signs and 
beckoned to us. 

"We halted and he came up, very slowly and 
watchfully, until within a hundred yards of us when 
I recognized him as John Davis, Co. D, whose horse 
had been killed by the enemy's first shot the previ- 
ous morning. He came up, straddled a horse be- 
hind one of the other men, and went with us 
to Patterson, where his company was stationed. 
Comrade Davis had walked and charged right be- 
side me in the fight the day before, loading and firing 
his Wesson rifle. When we had come to a place 
where loose horses and mules were running around 
in the brush, I told him to catch and mount one but 
he did not succeed and we ran out without him, 
thinking him either killed or captured. But he had 
crawled in between two large logs where the brush 
was thick and there he hugged old Mother Earth 
while the 'rebs' passed all around him, talking and 
cursing and wondering where their man was and 
how they themselves had come to let such a small 
bunch of the 'ragged militia' whip them. One 
spoke up and said he had learned back at the house 
(Vandiver's) that most of us had red stripes on 
our jackets. 'Oh, well, then,' said they, 'we know 
who they are. They're some of old Captain Rice's 
"Kill Devils," and Hummel's "Four-Mile Dead- 



THE DONIPHAN SCOUT 93 

Shots," or maybe old Murdoch's "Hell Hounds," or 
Fremont's "Ragged Rangers." It's no wonder; 
those fellows never were whipped.' 3 

"After the field was clear, said Comrade Davis, 
he had pulled himself from between the logs and 
followed us as best he could until during the night 
he had come near enough to see our four horses. 
Fearing they belonged to some of the enemy he 
passed around north of the farm and lay down on 
the ground until daylight, when he became satisfied 
that we were Union soldiers and showed him- 
self. 

"We struck Patterson a little before noon of 
Wednesday, September 21st. Here we found that 
the Post Commander, Captain McElroy, Co. D, 3rd 
M. S. M. Cavalry, had received orders from head- 
quarters at Pilot Knob to remain at Patterson until 
the enemy appeared in the immediate vicinity and 
then to retire without firing a shot. This made us 
all mad, including Captain McElroy, who was a 
very mild man but a fighter from away back. 

"The next day shortly after noon, the command 
was ordered to form in line, facing to the north, 
in the center of the camp, with horses saddled and 
our belongings buckled on. Very soon we saw the 

3 Companies I and K, Third M. S. M. Cavalry, wore artil- 
lery uniforms with red stripes till the end of the war because 
they had been organized as artillery companies. 



94 PILOT KNOB 

enemy in platoon front, about sixteen deep, march- 
ing into Mr. Patterson's lane within one hundred 
and twenty-five yards of us. The surprising thing 
about it was that we stood there dismounted in line 
until Patterson's lane was jammed full of the enemy 
and not a shot was fired by either side. Had it not 
been for our peremptory orders from headquarters 
we could have massacred those men before they 
could have gotten out of the lane, for they were so 
crowded together that they could have done 
nothing. When not another platoon could well get 
into the lane we received the orders : 

" 'Mount ! Twos right ! Forward, march ! 
Trot, march! Gallop!' and out we went, east by 
Gill's Mill, thence to and across the St. Francis 
River about five miles northeast of our evacuated 
camp, and thence north to Pilot Knob. Not a man 
of us got a scratch, though the enemy fired at us a 
number of times and we, contrary to orders, re- 
turned the fire. Several of our men, fearing that 
all the roads would be occupied by the enemy and 
that we would run into them and be captured, under- 
took to shift for themselves and, leaving the com- 
mand, took to the fields. By this disobedience of 
orders two good men lost their lives : Corp. W. 
W. ProfTet and Private A. M. Youngblood, of Co. 
K, who struck out west and then swung around to 
the Pilot Knob road about one mile north of the 
evacuated camp, where they met a squad of the 



THE DONIPHAN SCOUT 95 

enemy and were captured and shot then and there. 4 
The only other mishap of our retreat happened to 
John W. Pritchet, whose new horse, exchanged for 
the one wounded the day before, threw him when 
we were about two hundred yards from the camp 
and then ran away. The soldier had to take leg 
bail, and, dodging into a thicket of willows and 
alders, made his escape. The next day he reported 
to the command at Pilot Knob, all solid. ,, 

Thus ended the vicissitudes of the first Union de- 
tachment to encounter the Confederate invaders. 
When the members of the scouting party arrived 
at Pilot Knob they found preparations in active 
progress for receiving the enemy if he should attack 
the post. Gen. Thomas Ewing, Jr., command- 
ing the District of St. Louis, had repaired to Pilot 
Knob on the night of September 24th, bringing 
with him the 14th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, from 
which, however, he detached parties to reinforce the 
several garrisons guarding the railroad bridges on 
the Iron Mountain Railroad between St. Louis and 
Pilot Knob. Major Wilson, by General Ewing's 
order, had previously withdrawn his outposts from 
Patterson, Centerville, Fredericktown and Farming- 
ton, and concentrated all his troops at Pilot Knob. 

4 Seven men of Captain McElroy's command were captured 
at the time of his retreat from Patterson, and all were brutally- 
shot down on the spot, or were carried away in captivity and 
murdered a few days later. 



96 PILOT KNOB 

In order to keep in touch with the enemy's move- 
ments, a scouting party of about one hundred men 
from the 2nd and 3rd M. S. M. Cavalry, under 
Captain Hiram A. Rice, of the 3rd, started for 
Farmington at midnight of September 25th and 
reached there early next morning. The Confeder- 
ate advance, a part of Shelby's division, which was 
found in possession of the town, was attacked and 
driven out, losing one man killed and one captured. 
The latter informed the Federals that General Price 
would attack Pilot Knob that evening or the next 
morning. The scout returned to Pilot Knob at 
noon, the officers reported at headquarters and then 
with their men rejoined their respective commands. 
On the subject of other preliminary scouts, Ser^ 
geant Steakley says: 

"Reconnoitering parties of from four to eight 
men each were sent out on all the public roads daily 
from September 22nd to Sunday, September 25th. 
Sunday was my time ; so early in the morning I took 
three men of Co. K, 3rd M. S. M. Cavalry, and 
went out on the Fredericktown road. I believe it 
was about twenty-one miles to Fredericktown. 
When within four miles of the town we discovered 
the trail of several hundred mounted men, who had 
evidently first marched west and then turned about 
and gone back toward Fredericktown. We con- 
cluded that they had been on the same kind of 



THE DONIPHAN SCOUT 97 

business that we were, and we were sorry they 
had not come on until we had met and ex- 
changed a few shots. Our orders were to go as 
far east as we dared and keep our eyes open for 
the enemy and, if we discovered them advancing 
on Pilot Knob, we were to report as quickly as 
our horses could carry us there. Furthermore, 
if we heard a cannon-shot from the fort, we 
were to return there at once, as it would be a 
signal that the post was attacked; but otherwise 
we were to remain in the vicinity of the Fred- 
ericktown road until night. So, as there was no 
signal and no movement by the enemy, we returned 
that evening." 



SITUATION AND INTENTIONS OF 
OPPOSING FORCES 

To elucidate the movements and intentions of the 
Confederates up to the morning of September 26th, 
we quote General Price's official report. 1 He says: 

"I received at Fredericktown satisfactory in- 
formation that the strength of the enemy at Iron- 
ton was about 1,500 and that the Federal Gen. 
A. J. Smith was encamped about ten miles from 
St. Louis with his corps, composed of about eight 
thousand infantry, on the St. Louis and Iron Moun- 
tain Railroad. I immediately issued orders to Brig- 
adier-General Shelby to proceed at once with his 
division by the way of Farmington to a point on the 
St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railroad where there 
were three fine bridges in close proximity to each 
other, and to destroy the railroad there and the 
bridges; after effecting that object to fall back in 
the direction of Ironton and Pilot Knob, which 
would effectually prevent General A. J. Smith from 
reinforcing the garrison at those places, while I 
would attack and take them with the divisions of 

1 "Official Records of the War of the Rebellion," Series I, 
Vol. XLI, Part I, Pages 62^-629- 

98 



SITUATION OF OPPOSING FORCES 99 

Major-General Fagan and Major-General Marma- 
duke. General Shelby proceeded to the point indi- 
cated and performed the duty assigned him in the 
most complete and effective manner, destroying the 
splendid bridge at Irondale as well as the three 
bridges mentioned, tearing up miles upon miles of 
the track, burning the ties, rails, etc. 

u On the morning of the 26th, being rejoined by 
Major-General Marmaduke's division, I proceeded 
at an early hour with Fagan's and Marmaduke's 
divisions in the direction of Ironton and Pilot Knob, 
at the same time sending forward a portion of 
Fagan's division to take and hold a difficult pass 
in that direction between two mountains within 
three or four miles of Ironton. This was effected 
rapidly and with success. That evening I sent for- 
ward the remainder of his division, leaving his train 
at Saint Francis Creek, six miles from Ironton, 
where forage could be obtained for the animals and 
where I encamped for the night with the rest of the 
command. That evening Major-General Fagan 
drove in the Federal pickets at Arcadia and took 
position before the town for the night." 

Regarding his detachment to attack the railroad 
between Pilot Knob and St. Louis, General Shelby 
has said : 2 

2 In a letter written to Major C. C. Rainwater, dated Adrian, 
Mo., January 5th, 1888. 



ioo PILOT KNOB 

"I had ascertained from my scouts the enemy's 
strength and works at Pilot Knob, a part of General 
Smith's (command?) at Sulphur Springs, below St. 
Louis. General Price reaching Fredericktown, all 
information was gathered and given to him. After 
that, at night he sent for me. I found Generals 
Fagan and Marmaduke there. General Price 
stated the object of sending for us. Different 
routes were suggested. Finally he said, 'Shelby, 
let us hear from you.' 

"I, being the junior division commander, was 
called on first for an expression. I favored moving 
rapidly into St. Louis and seizing it, and if there 
was any patriotism in it, to take it with us; in 
other words, to give the Southern element a chance 
to aid the South and the holy cause we had espoused. 
I then and there, at that conference, stated what the 
result would be if we attacked Pilot Knob. I could 
see nothing as an inducement ; they had nothing we 
required. It would only cripple and retard our 
movements, and I knew too well that good infantry, 
well intrenched, would give us h — 1, and h — 1 we 
did get. Besides, I did not care how much infantry 
was in our rear, the country was big and contained 
plenty of horses. What we wanted was men, and 
to reach St. Louis. We could have done it. 

"Now, I would be the last one on this earth to 
detract from any brave and gallant officer, such as I 
knew General Marmaduke to be, and I know if he 






SITUATION OF OPPOSING FORCES idi 

were living he would be too magnanimous to claim 
what was not due him. ... I have this to say: 
that I know Generals Marmaduke and Fagan both 
urged General Price to attack Pilot Knob. When 
we were dismissed General Price had given no ex- 
pression, but simply said orders would be prepared 
that night for the march of each division. I was 
moved in the direction of Potosi. When there I 
received orders to march back to Pilot Knob at once, 
but I met part of his command, who reported that 
the enemy had fled during the night in the direction 
of Rolla." 

Nothing can more clearly and succinctly explain 
the composition and purposes of the Federal gar- 
rison at Pilot Knob and the topographical and engi- 
neering features of its position than the official re- 
port of General Ewing to General Rosecrans. 3 In 
it General Ewing says : 

"The force there present (at Pilot Knob) con- 
sisted of Companies A, E, F, G, H and I, Forty- 
seventh Missouri Infantry, and Captain Lindsay's 
company, Fiftieth Missouri Infantry, which were 
raw troops, with an aggregate of 489 officers and 
men for duty, and Companies A, C, D, H, I and K, 
Third Missouri State Militia Cavalry; Company L, 

3 "Official Records," Series I, Vol. XLI, Part I, Pages 
446-447. 



102 PILOT KNOB 

Second Missouri State Militia Cavalry; Company 
G, First Missouri State Militia Infantry, and Captain 
Montgomery's battery, which, with the detachment 
of the Fourteenth Iowa (Companies B, C, D, E 
and H) made an aggregate of old troops for 
duty of 562. My instructions from Major-General 
Rosecrans were to have Major Wilson endeavor to 
hold Pilot Knob against any mere detachment of 
the enemy, but to evacuate if Price's main army 
should move against it. The village of Pilot Knob, 
which is the terminus of the railroad and the depot 
for supply of the lower outposts, is eighty-six miles 
south of St. Louis. It lies in a plain of about one 
thousand acres, encircled by Cedar and Rock Moun- 
tains on the north, Pilot Knob on the east, and 
Shepherd's Mountain, stretching around the valley, 
on the south and west. Each hill is from five hun- 
dred to six hundred feet in height, and rises abruptly 
from the valley, with the sides toward it covered 
with rocks, gnarled oaks, and undergrowth. The 
southern and western slopes of Shepherd's Mountain 
are accessible, and several roads lead over them to 
'the coalings' on its summit. Stout's Creek flows 
along the base of Shepherd's Mountain and through 
a gap between it and Pilot Knob into a larger 
valley of several thousands of acres, encircled by 
a chain of hills, in the northern end of which and 
about a mile from the town of Pilot Knob is the 
flourishing village of Ironton. Through this gap 



SITUATION OF OPPOSING FORCES 103 

runs the road from Pilot Knob to Fredericktown, 
passing out of the larger valley by the 'Shut-in,' a 
gap four miles southeast of Pilot Knob. The two 
valleys are called Arcadia. 

" Fort Davidson is a hexagonal work, mounting 
four 32-pounder siege-guns and three 24-pounder 
howitzers en barbette. It lies about three hun- 
dred yards from the base of the Knob and one 
thousand from the gap. From the fort to the re- 
motest summit of these hills visible from it is not 
over twelve hundred yards, while all parts of the 
hillsides toward the fort, except the west end of 
Shepherd's Mountain, are within musket range. 
The fort was always conceded to be indefensible 
against any large army having serviceable artillery. 
Early last summer I sent competent engineers to 
select another site, but such are the difficulties of 
the position no practicable place could be found any 
more defensible. I therefore had the roads leading 
up the hills obstructed, cleared the nearest hillsides 
of timber, and put the fort in a thorough state of 
defense by deepening the ditches, strengthening the 
parapet, and adding two rifle-pits leading north and 
south, commanding the best approaches. On reach- 
ing Pilot Knob at noon of Monday, September 26, I 
found scouting parties had been sent the night be- 
fore on all the main roads, but that the party sent 
toward Fredericktown had returned after going but 
six or eight miles. I forthwith sent two companies 



104 PILOT KNOB 

to make a thorough reconnoissance toward Freder- 
icktown, and a small scouting party under Captain 
Powers to cross the roads leading from the south 
to that place, and learn of the loyal people on them 
as much as possible as to the force of the enemy. 
Both commands met Price's advance in Arcadia 
Valley near Shut-in Gap and were forced back into 
the town of Ironton, where, with Captain Dinger's 
company, Forty-seventh Missouri, then on duty 
there, they made a stand." 

On the subject of the composition of the garrison, 
Col. Thomas C. Fletcher, afterward Governor of 
Missouri, writes : 

"I reached Pilot Knob about noon on Monday, 
September 26th, on the last train that got through. 
In the meanwhile there had been concentrated there 
Companies A, E, F, G, H and I, of the Forty- 
seventh Regiment, and Company F, Fiftieth Regi- 
ment, Capt. Robert L. Lindsay's, though not then 
mustered in. 

"I reported to Gen. Thomas Ewing and, being 
next to him in rank, was assigned to the command 
of the infantry forces there present 4 which con- 
sisted of six companies of my Forty-seventh Regi- 

4 Colonel Fletcher was in command only of the north rifle- 
pit, occupied by several companies of his own regiment and 
Co. F, 50th Missouri. 



SITUATION OF OPPOSING FORCES 105 

ment, Lindsay's company of the Fiftieth, five small 
companies of the Fourteenth Iowa, veteran soldiers 
who had seen much service, Company H, First 
Regiment, M. S. M. Infantry, commanded by Cap- 
tain John Fessler and assigned as artillery to work 
the siege-guns. To this we added a company of 
colored men, collected and organized Monday after- 
noon preceding the assault on Tuesday, of which 
company Captain Lonergan was assigned the com- 
mand. Thus we had a total infantry force of 598 
men for duty, beside Battery H, 2nd Missouri Light 
Artillery, Capt. W. C. Montgomery, with four six- 
pounder guns. 

"Of cavalry there were parts of two battalions 
of the 3rd M. S. M. Cavalry, and a part of Com- 
pany L, 2nd M. S. M. Cavalry, under Capt. Amos 
P. Wright. Portions of Lindsay's, Powers' and 
Mace's companies were also mounted. All the 
cavalry and mounted men were under command of 
Major Wilson. The total of all arms was eight 
hundred and eighty-six effective men for duty, to 
which must be added about thirty-five citizens, who 
took arms and fought w 7 ith us like veterans." 



THE FIGHT IN ARCADIA VALLEY 

Sergeant Azariah Martin, Co. H, Forty-seventh 
Missouri Volunteer Infantry, was with the picket 
northeast of Arcadia which was first struck by the 
Confederate advance. He says: 

"On or before September 21st, I with six other 
men was detailed as mounted picket, and as the non- 
commissioned officers of our company had not yet 
been appointed I was named acting sergeant to take 
command of the picket post about three-quarters of 
a mile northeast of Arcadia, a mile southeast of 
the courthouse in Ironton, and nearly two miles 
southeast of Fort Davidson at Pilot Knob. This 
picket post was at the junction of three roads; one 
to Arcadia, one to Ironton and Pilot Knob, and one 
to Fredericktown, to the east, whence we were then 
hourly expecting General Price to attack Pilot 
Knob. This was the most advanced picket post on 
the Fredericktown road that I then knew of, and 
was in a locality called Russellville. 

"We were taking five-day tours on picket and my 
tour ended at 8 a. m., September 26th, when I was 
relieved by Theodore G. Atchison, acting sergeant 
in my company. In his squad or detail there was 

106 



THE FIGHT IN ARCADIA VALLEY 107 

a young lad named Hildebrand, who complained of 
being afraid to stay at this picket post, and as the 
post was only about one and a quarter miles west 
of my old home where my parents then lived I 
volunteered to take young Hildebrand's place. So 
when relieved of duty by acting Sergeant Atchison 
I returned to my company quarters near the Han- 
cock Hotel in Pilot Knob, and obtained permission 
of my captain to return to duty in young Hilde- 
brand's stead. I remained in camp until the noon 
rations were cooked, ready to distribute to the men, 
and then drew cooked rations for the men at my 
picket post and, without eating myself, at once re- 
turned, arriving at the post about 1 p. m. of that 
ever-to-be-remembered 26th day of September, 
1864. Acting Sergeant Atchison said he thought 
he would call in his vidette, who was then posted 
some two hundred yards to the east of us and about 
the bottom of the swag in our front. Referring to 
such a disobedience of orders, I said, 'What's every- 
body's business is nobody's business.' And Ser- 
geant Atchison said, 'Oh, we can watch the road 
while we are eating.' 

"We were all seated in a circle around the 'mess 
pan' in the shade of a tree, eating rather than watch- 
ing, when we heard the report of a gun to the east 
of us. We looked in that direction and saw a 
close column of cavalry advancing by platoons on 
the Fredericktown road, — the head of the column 



io8 PILOT KNOB 

then being some fifty or sixty yards down the slope 
of the next rise and about two hundred and forty 
yards from us. It was nearing the bottom of the 
swag. 

"Sergeant Atchison said, 'Oh, they are our men.' 
'No, sir-ee!' said I. 'They are Rebels. I've seen 
too many Rebels not to know 'em when I see 'em!' 

"Sergeant Atchison thought best to send to head- 
quarters a runner, who should alarm Ironton on 
the way, and also ordered that we hold our fire 
rather than precipitate an attack on Ironton un- 
awares. John Gourley, of our squad, volunteered 
to go in and was dispatched at once at top speed. 
We waited and watched the enemy until we saw 
them, after having thrown down the fence, go into 
the lower ground of the field on their right, 'by 
platoons, right front into line.' I think there was 
the best part of a brigade of cavalry there. Not 
hearing a word from Gourley, I concluded that 
someone else had better ride in, as the enemy's right 
wing was swinging in towards us and would soon 
have cut us off completely. So I volunteered to 
ride in, cautioning Sergeant Atchison not to per- 
mit the rebel line to advance beyond a certain point 
to our left before riding in also. My sudden move 
toward the rear caused the enemy to quicken his 
gait on the right, next to Stout's Creek, so Sergeant 
Atchison at once started in with his men too, about 
one hundred yards behind me. 



THE FIGHT IN ARCADIA VALLEY 109 

"When I reached the quarters of Company E, 
Forty-seventh Missouri — then camped about one 
hundred and forty yards northeast of the court- 
house in Ironton, — I found the men lounging 
around and their officers all out, except one cor- 
poral. I told him he had better -put his men into 
line as the Confederates were then almost in sight. 
Then I rode up on through Ironton, shouting as I 
went, 'Rebels coming! Rebels coming! Rebels 
coming !' 

"Many of my friends in Ironton tried to stop me 
for an explanation, but I had only one explanation 
for all, — 'Rebels coming!' 

"When I reached the ford of the creek above 
Ironton in the gap between Shepherd's Mountain 
and Pilot Knob Mountain I met a detachment of 
some eighty or more of the 3rd M. S. M. Cavalry, 
and the commander at once halted and asked an 
explanation. My explanation was the same as be- 
fore, — 'Rebels coming!' I added, however, that he 
could ride back to post headquarters and hear my 
report ; which he did, leaving his men halted in the 
road. 

"I reported at headquarters and the post com- 
mander, — Major Wilson, I think, — at once ordered 
the officer who had ridden back with me to hasten 
down to Ironton with his men. I then went over 
to my company camp and found it deserted, but 
soon found the company posted about in the middle 



no PILOT KNOB 

of the rifle-pit which extended south from Fort 
Davidson to the creek. 

"I hope I may be pardoned for saying so, but I 
was convinced then and have been ever since that 
Gourley intended to do as he did: run away and 
hide, and permit the Confederates to take Ironton 
completely by surprise. I saw him no more that 
day and have no doubt he acted the part of a traitor 
and deserved to be shot. If he should ever read 
these lines, I hope he may be able to prove that I 
was mistaken in his case. 

"Before I reached my company, the guns were 
popping down in Ironton like pop-corn in a hot 
skillet. Company E, of the Forty-seventh and the 
Third M. S. M. boys were having a hot time down 
there. Soon the Fourteenth Iowa Infantry, one 
section of Captain Montgomery's battery, and more 
of the Third M. S. M. Cavalry, under Major Wil- 
son, were on the double-quick and trot for the scene 
of action, and in a short time the boom of Mont- 
gomery's guns told us that they had struck game. 
Our boys soon drove the Confederates down the 
'Shut-in' on Stout's Creek, about two and a quarter 
miles east of Ironton. But, night coming on, the 
firing down there ceased and we drank our coffee 
and ate fried pickled pork and hardtack for supper 
and then lay down on the east bank of the south 
rifle-pit to await the coming of the battle of Pilot 
Knob next day. 



THE FIGHT IN ARCADIA VALLEY in 

"My father and mother then lived near the 'Shut- 
in/ some four hundred yards south of the Frederick- 
town road. They told me afterward that they saw 
the Confederates hurrying by to the 'Shut-in' but 
saw only one wounded man, who was at first left 
in the yard of the last house next to the 'Shut-in,' 
though his comrades soon returned and took him 
away. They saw no fighting, only the retreating 
enemy. Sometime during the night we endured a 
light shower of rain. Also, during the night Lieu- 
tenant Tate, with some thirty men of our company, 
was sent to guard a wagon-train north to De Soto. 
We never saw them again until about the last of 
October." 

Lieut. W. C. Shattuck, Co. I, Third M. S. M., 
gives an interesting account of the fighting of Mon- 
day afternoon. 

"I had just reached the camp at Ironton (about 
noon of Sept. 26th)," says Lieutenant Shattuck, 
"fed my horse and had my dinner before me, 
though I had not touched it, when the Confederates 
began to swarm into the town. According to or- 
ders, I got the company into line and rode to the 
fort, though I could not help seeing that the orders 
were a mistake. But the gallant Wilson was al- 
ways ready. He placed himself at our head, and 
we drove the enemy before us to Arcadia. Then 



H2 PILOT KNOB 

we fell back to Ironton and formed line near the 
courthouse. 

"We had ascertained that the Confederates had 
torn down the rail fence around a field of about 
sixty acres in extent, lying along the front of our 
line. In every one of the fence corners was one 
of the enemy's riflemen. Two companies of the 
Fourteenth Iowa Infantry, under Captains Camp- 
bell and Lucas and a four-gun battery, — H, of the 
2nd Missouri Light Artillery, — had reached us by 
this time and were deployed upon the right of the 
line. This was the situation when I was ordered 
by Major Wilson to take command of one hundred 
skirmishers and advance in front of the line. 

"It was about three o'clock p. m. There was no 
cover in the whole extent of the field in front ex- 
cept a row of fence posts about five feet high and 
from ten to fifty feet apart. One-half of the skir- 
mishers advanced, fired, and then dropped upon the 
ground to reload. Then the other half did the 
same, all being dismounted, while I rode up and 
down in the rear of the skirmish-line directing the 
advance. The sun was shining brightly, every but- 
ton, scabbard, and shoulder-strap was glistening. 
The whole command in their places in the rear 
were closely watching the movements of the advanc- 
ing skirmishers. I was the only mounted man in 
the field. I had been in the forlorn hopes of rear- 
guards and in the desperate charge of the advance; 



THE FIGHT IN ARCADIA VALLEY 113 

but all these were as nothing as compared with the 
advance across that field. The fact that I knew 
that every triangle of fence-rails sheltered a finished 
marksman, who had a dead rest for his gun, did not 
help me. Men were dropping from the line, the 
air around me seemed thick with balls; my horse 
was restive; it appeared that I was the only object 
to shoot at in all that bright expanse. Still the line 
advanced until we reached the timbered border of 
the field and drove out the enemy. The skirmishers 
received their horses from their holders and joined 
in the charge from that point to the 'Shut-in,' on the 
road to Fredericktown. Here the enemy had their 
dismounted men posted upon the timbered hillside 
along the road. Their fire was terrific. Wilson 
was wounded in the front part of the head and 
knocked from his horse. He jumped up with the 
blood streaming down his face, mounted his horse 
and ordered the column to fall back. Just before 
the column entered the ' Shut-in,' Lieutenant Pape, 
either by order or by accident, had taken a road 
bearing to the right of the one occupied by our main 
body. I was ordered by Wilson to notify Pape of 
our withdrawal. 

"I rode into the timber, overtook Pape and told 
him that his command would be cut off if he did 
not immediately fall back on the charge. I had hard 
work to make him understand his critical situation, 
but we finally came out into the road on the charge. 



ii4 PILOT KNOB 

It was already occupied by the advancing Confeder- 
ates. We charged them upon the left flank of col- 
umn, they gave way in every direction and we re- 
joined our command. A few moments more would 
have sealed the fate of Pape's detachment. 

"During the afternoon we formed line after line, 
firing constantly upon the enemy and often falling 
back only a few yards at a time. But still the 
swarming hosts of Confederates kept advancing and 
trying to envelop our left flank. The coolness and 
soldierly bearing of officers and men, and the effec- 
tiveness of the fire of the veterans of the 14th Iowa 
and the 2nd Missouri Artillery was conspicuous 
wherever they were engaged, in the beginning of the 
battle at Ironton or in resisting charge after charge 
on the last day's march to Leasburg. In all the 
movements prior to his capture everything seemed 
to depend upon Major Wilson. He took in the 
whole field at a glance; he was the life and soul of 
the entire force outside the fort; he appeared to be 
everywhere at just the right moment, and every man 
under his command seemed to believe that success 
with him was certain and victory ever sure. 

"By dark on Monday, the 26th, we had fallen back 
to the ground from which we started, near the court- 
house in Ironton. Here we formed line and stood 
to arms all night. Many of us had been without 
food since our supper of Sunday night. During the 



THE FIGHT IN ARCADIA VALLEY 115 

hours of darkness we could hear the movements of 
the advancing enemy and we knew that the action 
would open vigorously with the advent of daylight." 



THE RETREATING TRAINS 

General Thomas Ewing in his official report * 
says: 

"I immediately (early on the morning of Sept. 
27th) forwarded up the railroad all the quarter- 
master's and commissary stores not needed in the 
fort, and all the rolling stock, and started the quar- 
termaster's wagons empty." 

Both the railroad train and the wagon-train re- 
ferred to met with exciting adventures on encounter- 
ing Shelby's flanking column north of Pilot Knob. 
The locomotive of the railroad train was in charge 
of Engineer M. Lynch, who recounts as follows 
the events of the run: 

"I had orders from Major Wilson and General 
Ewing to leave Pilot Knob promptly at eight o'clock. 
We left the station at that time and ran up to a 
point about a quarter of a mile distant where the 
grade was reduced. Here we saw some people run- 
ning to get on the train, — invalids and a few aged 
people. We waited there a few moments to get on 

1 "Official Records," Series I, Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 447. 
116 



THE RETREATING TRAINS 117 

all the people we could, and while doing so we saw 
the Federal troops retreating into Fort Davidson. 
We could see the Confederates closing up on them ; 
we also saw someone on the wall of the fort waving 
the American flag. 

"Our orders were to retreat to De Soto, picking 
up the bridge guards at different bridges. When 
we stopped at Big River Bridge to pick up the guard 
there two men in citizens' clothes came riding in 
hurriedly and loudly warned us to get away as soon 
as possible as the Confederates were coming to de- 
stroy the bridge. We got away in short order, and 
a mile beyond came to a place where the enemy had 
captured a Federal wagon-train. The wagons were 
on fire and the mules were running around the coun- 
try wild. We finally reached a point one and a half 
miles south of Mineral Point, where we found the 
track obstructed, one rail having been pried up with 
a pole and blocked in that position. It was neces- 
sary for the troops (bridge guards) on board to get 
off in order to repair the track. They were at once 
fired upon but they drove back the enemy when a 
section foreman, who was on the train, fixed the 
track sufficiently for the train to pass over. While 
this was being done, a line repairer and an operator, 
who were on board, cut the telegraph wire and 
tested it, but with what result they did not state. 
When we had got half a mile beyond this place, 
looking back, we saw the track covered with Con- 



n8 PILOT KNOB 

federate cavalry, said to be of General Shelby's 
force. 

''Arriving at Mineral Point, we loaded on board 
a battery of artillery in about three minutes, and then 
were off again; but before we were under way the 
enemy was firing down into the town with artillery. 
A mile beyond we saw two companies of Confeder- 
ate cavalry come out on the track. They were evi- 
dently looking for bridges to destroy but had struck 
the wrong point. We finally escaped to De Soto, 
where A. J. Smith's corps was stationed, and there 
we remained overnight." 

P. H. Harrison Hickman, Co. H, Forty-seventh 
Missouri Volunteer Infantry, was with the wagon- 
train during its exciting retreat toward St. Louis. 
Mr. Hickman says : 

"About midnight of Sept. 26th our captain, 
P. L. Powers, came to the left of our company and 
began waking us up until there were thirty-five of 
us awake; these he ordered into line. Then Lieut. 
M. P. Tate of our company took charge of us and 
marched us to post headquarters for orders. We 
were instructed to go north with the post wagon- 
train. The night was very dark, with thunder and 
rain. We were distributed by twos and fours to the 
wagons in which we rode, some of them being 
loaded and others empty. The wagon in which I 



THE RETREATING TRAINS 119 

rode was empty. At daylight I saw that we had 
quite a long train, twelve six-mule Government 
wagons and several drawn by two horses or two 
mules, some of the wagons with covers and some 
without. There were also two ambulances and two 
caissons. 

"Some time about the middle of the morning the 
head of the train took the wrong road, and we 
halted and saw wagons coming back, which created 
a panic among the teamsters, who began to shout, 
'Rebels! Rebels!' But order was soon restored 
and we got on the right road again, which was the 
main dirt road leading up beside the railroad. I 
think it was about two o'clock in the afternoon 
when, on passing into the edge of an old out-held, 
the wagons in the advance went into a trap set by 
the enemy, who lay on either side of the road. 
The Confederates ordered the wagons to keep 
driving ahead but as there were no soldiers in the 
front wagons, they finally cut these off from the 
rest of the train. A brave teamster, however, by 
the name of Alfred Bird, turned his six-mule team 
and wagon across the road and tangled his mules 
among the trees and saplings, completely blocking 
the road, after which he drew his revolver, ready to 
help us make a fight. We began jumping from the 
wagons and starting for the head of the train, 
where things were getting pretty hot. I saw a 
negro woman come running back, crying: 



120 PILOT KNOB 

"Hurry up, soldiers ! De Rebels are comin' !' 

"She was the only negro or citizen of any sort 
that I saw with our train. 

"Twenty-six of our thirty-five men hurried into 
line under brave Lieutenant Tate, but nine men 
failed to come up into line. As the enemy was 
in small force, we soon drove them back, but while 
I was standing up in an exposed place, watching 
two or three Confederates on the ridge some dis- 
tance off, I saw the smoke rise from the gun of one 
of them and heard the bullet's 'zip' close above my 
head, all quite a little before I heard the report of the 
gun. I saw him take aim and am quite sure he 
aimed at me. The lieutenant at once ordered us 
down. 

"Soon after this we saw a cloud of the enemy's 
cavalry coming; it was said there were eight hun- 
dred of them ! We stayed until we heard their 
officers command, 'Charge!' Then Lieutenant 
Tate told us to take care of ourselves, which we did 
in a hurry, breaking up into squads of two or more 
while some men struck out alone. We lost Absa- 
lom Bess at the first attack. He was shot across 
the abdomen, but he recovered and saw service 
afterward. Comrade Tom Stephens went to him 
and finally got him to a house. 

"I have been told since that this fight occurred 
near Hopewell. I saw houses down on our right 
front and our road led up a hill west of these 



THE RETREATING TRAINS 121 

houses. I have also understood that at this point 
we only lacked two miles of having reached Min- 
eral Point, where we had been ordered to go. 

"As we scattered I fell in with the brave team- 
ster, Alfred Bird, and with David and Sam Pugh, 
of my company. That night we hid in a drain, 
where we made a shelter of logs and bushes, in 
which we slept until morning. Then we continued 
our journey through the woods until night again. 
Throughout this night we could hear the enemy 
passing along a road near which we lay. In the 
morning when we started again we crossed the road, 
which Bird then discovered to be the Caledonia road 
and which he said we must not cross any more. 
We soon came to some horses tied in a hollow in 
the woods, and the Pugh brothers took fright and 
ran back across the road, where they encountered 
some of the enemy and came near being captured. 
Bird and I did not run and presently continued our 
way south, keeping off all roads. 

"I eventually made my way back home, about a 
mile and a half east of where the town of Des Arc 
now stands, on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and 
Southern Railroad. Here I remained in hiding 
until October 31st, when I met my company again 
at Camp Stevenson, some four miles south of Iron- 
ton, after the conclusion of the Price campaign. 
The orderly sergeant told me that I had been 
marked among those 'missing in action/ " 



PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE AT FORT 
DAVIDSON 

The night of September 26th was spent by the 
g*arrison of Fort Davidson in preparing that work 
for the attack which was fully expected next day. 
The armament consisted of seven guns of position, 
four thirty-two pounder siege-guns, and three 
twenty-four pounder howitzers. But as the six 
field-guns of Battery H, Second Missouri Light 
Artillery, under Captain William C. F. Montgom- 
ery, were also present it was deemed advisable to 
make use of four of them inside the fort, leaving 
one section under Lieut. Morgan Simonton for 
service outside. Col. David Murphy, whom Gen- 
eral Ewing had entrusted with the command of 
the artillery, accordingly kept detachments of his 
men at work during the night erecting emplacements 
for the four field-guns. Lieut. T. M. Montgomery, 
of Battery H, says: 

"About sundown, Lieutenant Simonton was sent 
with the first section of Battery H and with other 
forces to Ironton, where they remained until about 
midnight when they fell back to a position near the 
fort. When Simonton's section went to Ironton 

122 



PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE 123 

the other four guns were ordered inside the fort, 
and the men set to work throwing up earth embank- 
ments for the guns, so that they might fire over the 
parapet. It took the greater part of the night to 
get the guns mounted. After the embankments 
had been built high enough they were overlaid with 
planks, then ropes were tied around the gun axles 
and secured to the revetments of the earthworks to 
keep the recoil from running the guns off the em- 
bankments. In action the men at these guns were 
exposed from their waists up. When we went in- 
side the fort one of our men, a late recruit, refused 
to go in, being, I suppose, either a Southern sym- 
pathizer or a 'bounty jumper.' I am not sure of 
his name, but I think it was Ferdinand Pennel." 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 

The detachments which were covering the front 
of the Federal position lay throughout the night in 
line and under arms along Stout's Creek, between 
Arcadia and Ironton. Capt. William J. Campbell, 
commanding the detachment of the Fourteenth 
Iowa Infantry, who, with his men had marched 
down to Ironton soon after coming into Pilot Knob 
on the train from St. Louis, in regard to leaving 
Ironton, marching to the front, says : 

"General Ewing told me to attach Co. E, Forty- 
seventh Missouri Infantry to my battalion and fol- 
low him down the valley. We marched about a 
mile and halted on a small ridge to the left of the 
road and went into line of battle, an apple orchard 
covering our front. Major Wilson drove the enemy 
out of the valley and through the gap, then retired 
to our position and formed on our left, putting out 
cavalry pickets behind a rail fence south of the 
orchard. It was then becoming dusk. 

"General Ewing, with orders to us to hold the 
position, then left us and rode back to the fort. In 
a very short time the enemy made his appearance, 
going into camp on each side of the road in brigade 

124 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 125 

order, — cavalry, infantry, artillery and wagon 
trains, the rear troops coming always to the front. 
I saw at a glance that this was more than a scout- 
ing party and went to confer with Major Wilson. 
I found him sitting near a rail fence, his head band- 
aged, apparently suffering from a wound received 
in the fight during the evening. This was our first 
meeting. I introduced myself and asked if he was 
badly hurt. He said he had been wounded along 
his right temple by a musket ball and had a severe 
headache from it. He expressed pleasure at our 
meeting, and I asked him what he thought of the 
surrounding scene. He replied that it looked dark 
and dangerous for us. I then remarked : 

" 'This is Price's whole army coming in here.' 
" 'Yes,' he replied, T believe so, too.' 
" 'Major,' I went on, 'we must do something, and 
that quickly.' 

"The enemy was still marching in and getting 
closer, and the lower end of the valley was bril- 
liantly lighted with his camp-fires. We decided to 
send a messenger with a note, acquainting General 
Ewing with the facts and requesting the privilege 
of falling back to Ironton, where we could better 
defend the narrow pass of Arcadia Valley. We 
went to a vacant house in our rear, struck a light, 
and wrote the message, each of us signing it, and 
gave it to an orderly with instructions to deliver it 
to General Ewing. This done, we patiently awaited 



126 PILOT KNOB 

a reply. Time dragged along tediously; minutes 
seemed like hours. Oh, for A. J. Smith and his 
Sixteenth Army Corps ! I regretted afterward 
that I had not myself taken a horse, ridden to the 
station, and sent a dispatch on my own responsi- 
bility. Our messenger returned in about an hour 
and informed us that General Ewing said if we 
needed two pieces of artillery he would send them 
down. When this news came it angered me and I 
exclaimed : 

" 'Hell and damnation ! We have enough here 
to lose already without losing two pieces of artil- 
lery!' Then, turning to Major Wilson, I added: 
'Major Wilson, you and your men at daylight can 
ride as fast as the enemy's cavalry, but they will cut 
off my infantry before we can get to Ironton.' 

"Wilson concurred in my judgment, but we could 
only patiently await results. There was danger of 
the enemy's lines coming in contact with ours should 
the Confederates send out a picket. We feared 
this most in the extension of their camp, as rear 
troops always march to the front and take the lead 
on the morrow. Time passed tediously as we lay 
there in plain sight of all that was going on before 
us, but we dared not speak above a whisper lest we 
alarm the enemy. We could distinctly hear them 
boast how they would 'get away with that little fort 
in the morning.' About ten o'clock we heard a 
horseman coming toward us from the rear. I 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 127 

walked down a slight incline to meet him and have 
him dismount, for it was dangerous to ride upon the 
ridge and expose our position to the Confederates. 
The rider was Captain Hills, of General Ewing's 
staff, I called a man to hold his horse and took 
him to the left of the line of infantry on the ridge 
where we were screened from view by the orchard. 
Then I said: 

" There, Captain, look on the panorama and see 
if you doubt us.' 

"His only reply was, 'My God!' He spoke in a 
suppressed tone, as we dared not create noise. 
After a moment he said, T will go back and tell 
General Ewing what I saw, and if he doesn't order 
your men back I will return and do it on my own 
responsibility.' 

"He returned in an hour with orders to retire to 
Ironton, — the infantry to move in column on the 
road, the cavalry to lead their horses through the 
fields. This was done to prevent exposing our po- 
sition. Cavalry pickets were left stationed to give 
the alarm at daybreak. Major Wilson aligned his 
cavalry to the east of the public road and my troops 
were formed in line to the right on a small elevated 
plateau near the courthouse. Here we felt more 
secure, our position being backed by precipitous 
bluffs. The two pieces sent down were placed in 
battery to my left. I had the arms stacked and 
placed two sentries on guard; then we broke ranks 



128 PILOT KNOB 

and I ordered the men to lie down and rest. It 
soon began to rain, and I retired with the men into 
the courthouse for shelter, but not to> sleep. The 
sentries were left at their posts with instructions to 
give warning should anything occur. At daybreak 
we heard shots ring out on the morning air. One 
of my sentries came to give the alarm, saying, 'The 
enemy is coming.' 

"I had already aroused the men and was rushing 
them to arms. Some had fallen asleep; but we 
rapidly got into position, took arms, and were ready 
for action. The cavalry pickets we had left out in 
front were seen coming up the road as fast as their 
horses could run, the enemy following at full gallop. 
Our two pieces of artillery now opened on them 
and they diverged to the right, apparently discover- 
ing Wilson's position, which exposed the flank of 
their column to our artillery. Another column we 
could see advancing to the south and west, their 
horses at a walk. This column halted at an old 
dismantled work of ours, Fort Curtis, 1 and two 
officers dismounted and got upon the works and 
took a look at us with their glasses. They were 

1 This old, long-abandoned Fort Curtis was the "strong 
fort" to which General Price referred in his official report 
("Official Records," Series I, Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 629) 
when he said, "The next morning he (General Fagan) drove 
the enemy from Arcadia, where they abandoned a very strong 
position, through Ironton, where he also took a strong fort 
in the most gallant and brilliant manner." 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 129 

out of musket range, but their column was parallel 
to us and would have given the artillery a raking 
fire down its whole length. I called the artillery 
officer to bring his guns up to our position and open 
fire on them, but he did not reply. I learned after- 
wards that those officers were General Price and his 
chief of staff, who were looking at us through 
their field-glasses from the old earthworks. How I 
wished for a long-range rifle! 

"Major Wilson now dashed up and ordered the 
artillery to limber up and gallop for the fort. Then 
he came to me and said, 'Captain, double-quick 
your men up that alley and I will close up the 
rear/ 

"Then he dashed away at a swift gallop. Those 
were the last words he ever spoke to me and it was 
the last time I ever saw him alive. I immediately 
obeyed the order. The alley referred to was to 
my right and rear. We had not gone far on our 
way when to my surprise I found that women and 
children, screaming and crying, were following us. 
This was embarrassing. Letting the troops go on, 
I stopped and prevailed upon them to go back to 
their homes, get in cellars, and protect themselves 
as best they could. I had to run hard to catch up 
with my command. As we came inside the gap that 
separates Pilot Knob from the Arcadia Valley we 
halted and drew up in line of battle, and I then sent 
for rations as my men had not yet eaten breakfast. 



130 PILOT KNOB 

Rations were issued to them as they stood in line, 
hardtack and raw bacon being the bill of fare. 
Major Wilson was contesting every inch of ground 
with the enemy and they were pressing him hotly. 
I could see that it was a matter of only a few mo- 
ments before he would be driven out of the Arcadia 
Valley. We were in the direct line of fire of our 
artillery at the fort, should it open, and not liking 
my position, I sent my adjutant to General Ewing, 
requesting permission to take position on a spur of 
Shepherd's Mountain, to our right. He sent back 
word to do as I thought best. So we marched up 
through the timber to the crest of the ridge over- 
looking the Arcadia Valley and formed line. Here 
I ordered Lieut. Smith Thompson, Co. D, to de- 
ploy his men as skirmishers on my right and ex- 
tend his line up the slope, this being done to prevent 
a flank movement. The enemy was now in plain 
sight below us. 

"Wilson had been forced back to the base of Pilot 
Knob and his men were fighting desperately on foot 
at close range, some using their revolvers. I had 
deployed sharpshooters in front with orders to open 
fire, and the latter were now in close action and do- 
ing their full duty. The fort was about twelve hun- 
dred yards distant to our rear, and as its guns had 
now opened fire, the space of about three hundred 
yards between Wilson and my position had become 
dangerous for us. Shells from the guns burst un- 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 131 

comfortably close, and pieces that fell around us 
were picked up, but no one was hurt. 

"Wilson's cavalry, seeing the flash of our mus- 
ketry on their right and not being aware of our 
position, supposed we were the enemy and opened 
on us from their right flank. I grasped our 
colors, and climbing on a ledge of rock, waved them 
across an opening through the timber. It did no 
good. I then called out: 'Cease firing! This is 
the Fourteenth Iowa!' 

"The enemy, being closer by, took up the cry, 
shouting : 'Charge them, boys ! The Fourteenth 
Iowa is up there!' 

"This came from the ranks, and they made a start 
but were stopped by their officers stepping in front 
and beckoning them to keep quiet. This was 
plainly visible from our location, not more than one 
hundred and fifty yards away. I knew now there 
was a game on to capture us and became on the alert 
to foil any such maneuver. As I had done at the 
start I deployed skirmishers to the right. 

"In a few moments a sergeant from Lieutenant 
Thompson reported a heavy column of infantry 
(dismounted cavalry) moving up on his right. I 
sent the lieutenant back an order to rally his skir- 
mishers and close up on the double-quick. I also 
sent Capt. W. V. Lucas and Adjutant Hoffbauer to 
call in the sharpshooters. This done, I moved by 
the left of column to the rear. 



1 32 PILOT KNOB 

"We could not return by the way we had come up 
for it was undoubtedly occupied by the enemy, as 
Wilson had been pressed further back on Pilot 
Knob. We marched parallel with the valley until 
we struck a timber road. The underbrush was so 
thick and so difficult to penetrate that I took this old 
blind road, first sending two men ahead as scouts 
to watch for the enemy. They soon returned, re- 
porting they heard voices in the brush that skirted 
the valley. I gave the command to file left, and 
struck into the brush and boulders. The hillside 
was steep and covered with loose rocks and under- 
growth; this made marching difficult. After mov- 
ing some two hundred yards further in this direc- 
tion I determined to debouch into the valley. As 
we struck the open ground I gave the command, 
'Head of column to the left; double-quick, march!' 

"A shower of musket balls flew over our heads 
but no one was hurt. The enemy was sure he had 
us trapped, and five minutes more would have en- 
dangered the safety of our little battalion. We 
marched close to the bluff until we passed a mule 
stockade, and then we turned into a rifle-pit leading 
to the fort. I halted a short distance from the 
main works." 

Capt. W. V. Lucas, Co. B, Fourteenth Iowa, 
who was with the detachment of his regiment 
throughout the campaign, prefaces his account of 






THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 133 

the engagement on the morning of the 27th with a 
good story of his own experience on arriving at 
Pilot Knob the previous afternoon. He says: 

"I went into a barber shop across the street to be 
shaved. Suddenly, while the barber was doing the 
job, and when he had shaved one side of my face 
the long roll was beaten. I left the chair instantly 
and reached my company a half-block away in this 
condition: one side shaved smooth, while the other 
maintained a two-weeks' growth of beard. I did 
not complete the shave until six days afterward, 
when a colored barber did the job at Rolla, seventy- 
five miles away. While working the dirt and sand 
out of the 'long side,' the fellow's curiosity was ex- 
cited until he could not refrain longer from com- 
ments. 

" 'I nevah see a face befo', sah,' said he, 'dat one 
side was richer dan de odder; but yo's is, suah!' 

"I then explained to him, which seemed to afford 
him great relief. I may say I endured many jokes 
from the boys on my 'fierce looks,' the best of which 
came from Jimmy Boyle, an Irishman, who, not 
being able to repress himself longer even in the 
midst of danger, said : 

" 'Ah, bedad, what a foine lookin' corpse ye will 
make, so ye will !' 

"A few minutes after the long roll our battalion 
was ordered to go out through the pass between Pilot 



i 3 4 PILOT KNOB 

Knob and Shepherd's Mountain on the Ironton road 
and reconnoiter the valley toward Arcadia. This 
we did during the afternoon, and every few mo- 
ments scouts came in from the front, reporting 
heavy columns of the enemy coming and only a few 
miles away. The estimates they gave of the num- 
ber were all the way from 15,000 to 25,000 men. 

"As the evening drew on Captain Campbell, com- 
manding the detachment of the Fourteenth Iowa, 
moved his little battalion down the Arcadia road 
until he met the advance of Fagan's command, 
which was coming up in force. Campbell realized 
the futility of a handful of men trying to stop an 
avalanche, so he prudently fell back toward Ironton, 
where we remained on picket duty until after mid- 
night. During all the early part of the night we 
were near enough to the enemy's lines to hear the 
commands and the inquiries as to the location of 
different regiments, as the different organizations 
went into camp. 

"After the enemy's camp was quiet we were or- 
dered to retire to the courthouse to escape a cold 
and dreary rain which began falling a little after 
dark. We gladly obeyed the order and spent the 
remainder of the night under shelter ; but we suffered 
from cold and hunger. These discomforts, how- 
ever, were not so much thought of as what daylight 
would reveal to us. Every man realized that the 
position we were in was a perilous one if not abso- 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 135 

lutely hopeless. Before us was a large veteran 
army, determined to sweep the State with the besom 
of its power. To attempt to stand before it seemed 
sheer folly, to retreat from it was to court almost 
certain captivity or death. But the stake we were 
playing for was the rich city of St. Louis, holding 
millions of dollars' worth of Government supplies, 
while its capture would add great prestige to the 
Confederacy. General Ewing, after consulting 
with his officers, determined to delay the advancing 
enemy until reinforcements arrived. It was well 
we did not know then, — nor did we realize it until 
after the battle was fought, — that Smith's forces 
had been drawn back to the immediate vicinity of 
St. Louis for the more certain protection of the city, 
leaving us a forlorn hope to take care of ourselves 
as best we might. 

"When the morning light came it revealed the 
whole valley toward Arcadia swarming with troops ; 
and then we knew for a fact that we were in front 
of Price's army. Daylight set the enemy into activ- 
ity and soon an advance was made toward the little 
handful of men facing them. General Ewing or- 
dered Captain Campbell to deploy his battalion of 
veterans across the eastern base of Shepherd's 
Mountain and on its southern slope. Major Wil- 
son with his cavalry was assigned the duty of guard- 
ing the base of Pilot Knob next to the pass, thus 
leaving it clear from our troops so that the guns of 



136 PILOT KNOB 

the fort could rake it. The fort had doubtless been 
built with the central idea of commanding this ap- 
proach to the town and the valley north and west 
of it 

"Captain Campbell promptly deployed his bat- 
talion into line of battle facing the enemy. As the 
latter approached in such heavy force we were no 
match for him. Steadily he pushed us back step 
by step up the side of the mountain, we, however, 
maintaining such a rapid fire that the enemy was 
forced to use caution in rushing upon us. Yet we 
were steadily and surely driven up the declivity, 
stubbornly disputing every inch of the ground. 
The fort lay over the crest, and Campbell kept in 
mind the fact that it would be only a question of a 
short time when he would be forced to move rapidly 
to it for safety. For this reason he carefully pro- 
tected his left flank as it covered the line by which 
he intended to reach the fort. I was assigned the 
left of the line with orders to guard it at any cost 
and at all hazards. As the battle waxed hot along 
the base of the mountain, the guns in the fort began 
to rake the open space in the pass, notifying us that 
it was protected; and we felt wonderfully relieved 
when the shells began shearing the sides of the pass, 
for it told us that flank was safe. 

"In the meantime General Marmaduke had dis- 
mounted a brigade and had sent it through the town 
of Ironton around our right flank to ascend the 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 137 

mountain and attack us in the rear as we were 
slowly backing up the declivity. The first intima- 
tion I had of troops in our rear was a volley from 
the rocks and trees above us ; before this volley sev- 
eral men fell. I instantly faced my company about, 
as did Captain Davidson his company and as, I 
presume, was done with the other companies. 
Thus we engaged the force in our rear, which had 
now become our front. The enemy was well pro- 
tected by the trees, rocks, and brush; and as our 
line advanced upon them it was necessarily broken 
but it never wavered for a moment. As I passed 
around a huge rock as much as ten feet high a tall 
man stepped from behind another rock not over 
twenty paces from me and deliberately drew his 
piece down on me. I was helpless and breathed a 
prayer for my wife and children at home in Iowa. 
But, instead of firing, the man dropped his gun, 
threw up his hands, reeled and fell, while a voice 
on my left called out, 'All right, Cap. He'll not 
bother you!' 

"I glanced to the left and recognized Private Boy- 
Ian, of Co. C, who was noted as a dead shot. His 
keen eye had seen the movements of the poor fellow 
who was after me, and his quick action and sure 
aim had saved my life. 

"The crisis was soon reached, with a strong force 
above us and a solid line ascending the mountain 
in what was now our rear from the Ironton road. 



138 PILOT KNOB 

Our desperate position nerved us to drive the force 
above us back up the mountain, when Captain Camp- 
bell skilfully faced us to the right flank and we 
passed out between the two bodies of the enemy, 
over the crest of the mountain, and went in all haste 
to the fort, which we entered from the south ditch." 

Serg.-Maj. Lewis W. Sutton, of the Fourteenth 
Iowa, adds the following facts concerning the part 
taken by that regiment in the fighting in Arcadia 
Valley and on Shepherd's Mountain: 

"During the night the sound of heavy wagons 
and moving troops could be heard. On the morn- 
ing of the 27th, while it was yet dark we knew by 
the sounds we heard that the enemy was advancing 
on our position. Our officers, knowing that they 
had too few men to make a stand, ordered a retreat. 
We marched through Ironton in quick time and 
when we reached the north side of town the skir- 
mishing began between the Confederates and Major 
Wilson's cavalry ; it soon became quite sharp. Day- 
light was now coming. Captain Campbell ordered 
a double-quick, and after passing the fields north of 
town, we turned to the left of the road and were 
soon concealed behind the small trees and brush on 
the side of Shepherd's Mountain. In a few min- 
utes Lieut. Smith Thompson came up with Co. D, 
and took his place in the regiment. A few minutes 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 139 

later the 3rd M. S. M. Cavalry came back on the 
gallop and turned to the right of the Pilot Knob 
road, thus leaving the road clear for the Confeder- 
ates to pass up the valley, which they did until their 
advance was halted by the guns in the fort. By 
this movement the enemy, without knowing it, cut 
off both the cavalry and infantry from the fort. 
We were too few in number to turn the tables and 
in like manner cut them off. Our best policy was 
to keep still and, like the Arabs, 'silently steal away.' 
"As soon as General Ewing learned our position, 
he kept us on the mountain to watch the movements 
of the enemy, and as the latter continued advancing 
and moving troops forward for battle, we at inter- 
vals kept moving toward the fort. During the 
forenoon the Confederates were most of the time 
nearer the fort than we were. Our mission was to 
look and report what we saw. Captain Campbell 
sent a request to General Ewing that he be permitted 
to take a position higher up on the side of Shep- 
herd's Mountain where he would be in less danger 
from the guns in the fort and where we would have 
a better view of the enemy's movements in the val- 
ley below. This request being granted, Lieutenant 
Thompson was ordered to deploy his men as skir- 
mishers to the right, extending to the top of the 
mountain; and while here he discovered the enemy 
in large force to his right. When the lieutenant re- 
ported the fact, Captain Campbell recalled him and 



140 PILOT KNOB 

then moved the regiment quietly along the side of 
the mountain and descended into the valley just be- 
low the fort. When the open ground was reached, 
the Confederate skirmish-line gave us a brisk fire 
for a minute, until we reached the ditch running to 
the fort. While the regiment was on Shepherd's 
Mountain two men were killed: Corp. Taylor 
Jefferies and David McMillen, private, both of Co. 
E. I have no doubt they were picked off by sharp- 
shooters, for none of our men knew what became 
of them, and the first positive evidence we had that 
they were killed was after Lieutenant Hoffbauer re- 
turned from a trip to Pilot Knob. While there he 
went upon Shepherd's Mountain where we had been 
during the battle and there found the bodies of the 
two men and buried them." 

The part taken by Major Wilson and his cavalry 
is traced by Lieut. W. C. Shattuck, Third M. S. M. 
Cavalry, in the following words : 

"Tuesday, September 2.7, we held our first line 
just as long as it was possible, and when our flank 
could no longer be protected, fell back and formed 
a new line. Thus the line was formed and re- 
formed, how many times I do not know, until about 
2 o'clock p. m., when we began to get within range 
of the heavy guns in the fort. Of course the shells 
and balls from these guns passed over our heads, 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 141 

but in many cases they were aimed so low that they 
made the men uneasy and it required the greatest 
efforts to maintain the line. As we mounted the 
side of Pilot Knob we could see the enemy in the 
valley, coming from the south and east, their move- 
ments plainly indicating the massing of men for a 
charge. About four p. m. we fell back across the 
railroad. I had been in command of the company 
from the beginning, Captain Rice acting as aide to 
General Ewing. After crossing the railroad with 
my company and a few men of Co. K, Major Wil- 
son came to us and gave me what were perhaps the 
last orders he ever uttered. These were his words : 

" 'Lieutenant, form your company down on the 
Ironton road to resist attack on the fort.' 

"He appeared to know that the charge was com- 
ing. Had I not been under orders I should cer- 
tainly have tried to prevent him from going straight 
into the masses of Confederates upon Pilot Knob. 
He had his holsters, containing two revolvers, in his 
right hand. Someone spoke of his saber being in 
his way. He replied : 

" T would carry it seven years to have it save my 
life once.' 

"As I saw his form for the last time rising on the 
railroad grade I felt certain that he was going to 
death or capture ; for we had been confronting that 
force all day and it had been growing stronger all 
the time. I had reported this to him and I could do 



142 PILOT KNOB 

no more. I expected to be ordered to go back with 
him and, — although I knew it was a useless effort, — 
I would have gone without a word. I believe that 
among all the millions who served under the banner 
of the Union, there was not a more courageous, 
skilful, and efficient officer, nor a more unassuming 
and courteous gentleman than Maj. James S. Wil- 
son. 

"Company I was formed in the road facing toward 
Pilot Knob. In a very few minutes a heavy dis- 
charge of musketry was fired at it from the sides 
of Pilot Knob, — the balls fairly plowing the ground 
by reason of the elevation of the line of fire. We 
replied with our carbines, but in a moment, appar- 
ently, the mountain-side was covered with charging 
masses. We fell back before them into the rifle- 
pits. It was, I think, past 4 p. m. and this was the 
first time that Co. I had been inside the works." 

Not all of the cavalry, however, was so fortunate 
as to escape to the fort. First Lieut. W. H. Smith, 
Co. L, Second M. S. M. Cavalry, was one of this 
number. He says : 

"At daylight in the morning (Sept. 27th) 1 
got my horse and went down to the firing-line. I 
found Lieutenant Rice and a part of Co. L and 
perhaps a hundred troops of the Third M. S. M. 
Cavalry. Major Wilson was in command of the 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 143 

firing-line, which was, I think, about a mile south of 
the fort. The boys were all glad to see me and 
came and shook hands with me. I joked them and 
asked them what they were doing out there. One 
of them, N. W. Fletcher, replied: 

" 'Lieutenant, you won't have long to wait; you'll 
see what is the matter.' 

"In a few minutes we were fired upon at long 
range and the enemy's cavalry in large numbers be- 
gan to advance upon us. We had orders to fall 
back up the side of Pilot Knob Mountain to get out 
of range of the fort. As the Confederates ad- 
vanced up the valley between Pilot Knob and Shep- 
herd's Mountain the heavy artillery in the fort 
opened fire, causing them to fall back. About this 
time I was detailed as aide-de-camp and was ordered 
by Major Wilson to report to General Ewing at the 
fort that the cavalry was hard pressed and would 
have to fall back. I met General Ewing at the 
entrance to the fort. He was a pleasant man with 
a smile on his face, although the firing at that time 
was terrible. He instructed me to tell Major Wil- 
son to fall back into the town and hold it. The 
town was situated east of the fort. 

"When I started back to deliver this order I had 
to hitch my horse at the foot of the mountain, the 
side of which was covered with brush. I had not 
proceeded far when I met Major Wilson's com- 
mand entirely routed and learned that the major 



144 PILOT KNOB 

was a prisoner. At this time the Confederates 
were charging the fort from all sides. There was 
a heavy column between the fugitives and the fort, 
which made it impossible for us to reach the latter. 
So I ordered the boys to get their horses, which they 
did, and we struck out on the road leading toward 
St. Louis with about five hundred Confederate 
cavalry after us. I managed to get ahead of my 
boys, who numbered, I think, about twenty. With 
us was Lieutenant Rice. We formed line at differ- 
ent times and checked the fast horses of the enemy 
by firing on them. They followed us for about 
five miles. Then night came on and we stumbled 
upon a Government wagon-train of twenty or 
twenty-five wagons, which was fleeing from Pilot 
Knob. The wagons were filled with women and 
children who were also getting out of range of the 
battle. The wagon-master called on me for orders 
as to what to do with his train. 

"By this time it was dark. Close ahead of us 
was a little town, named, I think, Irondale, and as 
a road came in there from the east, I was afraid 
that a Confederate column might have come in that 
way. With me was a citizen, whose name I do not 
recall, who was also fleeing from Pilot Knob. I 
asked him to go down into the town and see if 
any of the enemy were there and then come back 
and report. He soon returned and reported that 
General Shelby's command was there in great force, 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 145 

tearing up the railroad. I then gave orders to the 
wagon-master to unhitch the mules and leave the 
train so that he and his teamsters might save them- 
selves if they could. I also instructed a man living 
beside the road to take the rails from his farm 
fences and build fires for the women and children. 
Then, ordering my soldiers not to break ranks but 
to follow me closely, I left the road and took to the 
woods, trying to follow a northeast direction. 

"We travelled through the night until perhaps 
3 o'clock a. m. making slow progress, for we could 
not keep direction. At last we came upon a large 
Confederate camp, with fires burning. I sent two 
men to reconnoiter and they reported that there 
was a large camp with the men in it asleep. We 
passed around them quietly so as not to disturb 
their slumbers. After a time we dismounted for 
perhaps two hours, but we were not sleepy, and 
at daylight we resumed our march through the 
woods. This was the morning of the 28th. We 
were following a northeastern direction, parallel 
with the Iron Mountain Railroad. Sometime dur- 
ing the afternoon we struck a road which I thought 
led to De Soto. Here one man of my company, 
John Glacier, went to a house to get something to 
eat, and I never heard of him afterward. I think 
he was killed. We followed the road for a long dis- 
tance and at length came in sight of a picket-guard. 
We did not know whether they were friends or 



146 PILOT KNOB 

foes, but we advanced upon them and, to our great 
delight, they proved to be an outpost of Gen. A. J. 
Smith's command. We passed in to headquarters 
and reported to General Smith, giving him the first 
news he had received of the fight at Pilot Knob." 

While the struggle was going on in Arcadia 
Valley and along the mountain slopes south and east 
of Fort Davidson, there were also movements west 
of it which were interesting, even though of less 
moment than those on the main field. Dr. Sam B. 
Rowe, at that time Quartermaster-Sergeant of the 
Forty-seventh Missouri Volunteer Infantry says : 

"According to the prediction of Lieutenant- 
Colonel Maupin (Forty-seventh Mo. Infantry) who 
shared my tent, I was awakened early (on the 
morning of Sept. 27th) by the boom of cannon 
down the valley about Ironton, and as I awakened 
him I quoted in my enthusiasm a line descriptive 
of the battle of Waterloo: 'The foe! They come, 
they come !' Early in the morning I was requested 
by Colonel Maupin to act as mounted orderly and 
carry orders to the different parts of the battle- 
field. 

"One of my first duties took me, in company with 
Sergeant Meloan of the Third M. S. M. Cavalry, 
who was acting in the same capacity as myself, 
around the north side of the base of Shepherd's 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 147 

Mountain with instructions to the picket guard sta- 
tioned there, in case they saw any of the enemy ap- 
proaching from that direction to fall back to a 
certain tree standing alone in sight of the fort, and 
there fire two shots which would be a signal to 
the gunners in the fort to throw shells over them. 
When we arrived at the place where I had formerly 
found the picket when making the grand round, 
they were absent, but the signs indicated that they 
had left recently. Supposing the picket had been 
advanced for precautionary reasons, we rode on 
nearly a mile further and entirely out of sight of 
the fort. It was a cool morning, a drizzling rain 
was falling ; and as the soldiers had not drawn their 
winter overcoats, Sergeant Meloan and I both had 
light gray blankets thrown over our shoulders and 
fastened about our necks with cords. On a hill- 
side beyond the western slope of Shepherd's Moun- 
tain, we saw drawn up among the trees about twenty 
mounted men, some wearing Federal uniforms and 
some with blankets about their shoulders, as we had. 
We took them for Federal pickets and they imme- 
diately took us for Confederate scouts. We ap- 
proached within thirty yards of them without any 
hostile move on either side and then I observed 
that several of them had new dry goods, shoes and 
tinware hung across their saddle pommels. 

Hastily concluding that they were not our men, 
we halted: then one of them took deliberate aim 



148 PILOT KNOB 

at us ; his carbine, however, simply exploded the cap 
and did not fire. We wheeled and retreated in 
haste, Sergeant Meloan firing a couple of shots at 
them from his revolver as we turned. They pursued 
us, firing meanwhile, and their bullets whistled past 
our ears, one of them passing through my blanket 
as it fanned out in my flight. When we reached 
the designated tree we fired two shots, and imme- 
diately a gun in the nearest angle of the fort was 
trained our way and a shell hurtled over our heads 
and exploded in the vicinity of our pursuers, who 
were now in sight of the fort. We rode into camp, 
halting behind a stockade where some soldiers stood 
dismounted around one of their number whose leg 
had been shattered by a bullet. They informed us 
that they had been on picket duty at the post to 
which we had been sent. They had been driven in 
and one of their number wounded. 

"A few minutes later we were dispatched to 
warn a few citizens, living out in the edge of town 
toward which we had ridden earlier, to come into 
the fort. While sitting on my horse at a gate, 
a shell from one of the enemy's cannon on top of 
Shepherd's Mountain exploded several feet above 
my head and a fragment of it plowed down through 
my horse's shoulder, disabling him so badly that I 
had to abandon him. As the enemy by this time 
had quite closed up on us from apparently all 
directions, it was useless to despatch bearers. I 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 149 

therefore procured a rifle and went into the north 
rifle-pit, where I stayed and contributed my share to 
the shooting until the battle was over for the day." 

After the Confederates had succeeded in driving 
the skirmish line of the Fourteenth Iowa from Shep- 
herd's Mountain, the commanding crest of which 
they were anxious to secure in order to bring ar- 
tillery fire to bear on Fort Davidson, they dragged 
two field-guns to the summit. Col. David Murphy, 
then Adjutant of the Forty-seventh Missouri Vol- 
unteer Infantry, and commanding the artillery in 
Fort Davidson, says : 

"The Confederate artillery, supported by Mar- 
maduke's division on foot, advanced up the slopes 
of Shepherd's Mountain and in the clear air of that 
region the picks and shovels of their cannoneers 
could be distinctly heard as they leveled off a spot 
for the placing of their guns. While this was be- 
ing done, I was giving instructions to the men be- 
hind the guns under my command. Each gun was 
numbered, and the order was that I should desig- 
nate the gun which was to fire and the gun crews 
not called were to reserve their fire until the num- 
ber given their gun should be called. While thus 
engaged, General Ewing came to where I stood on 
the parapet of the fort and urged me to open fire 
on the Confederate artillery that was being posted 
on the mountain slope. My reply was: 



150 PILOT KNOB 

" 'General, I have assured you that we will hold 
this fort until night. It is proper that I should 
defer the bringing on of the battle. My plan is 
to permit the enemy to fire the first shot, and after 
that is done there will be firing enough from our 
side to gratify the desires of everybody. When we 
open on that mountain, you will notice the advan- 
tage that we have and the disadvantage they have, 
so you will please let me have my own way about 
it/ 

" 'All right,' replied the General ; 'but I still think 
that you should open fire and prevent them from 
getting their guns in a good position.' 

"He had hardly turned away before the first 
shot came from the mountain side. I immediately 
jumped down to the breech of the gun bearing on 
Shepherd's Mountain, directed the aim to corre- 
spond with the flash of the challenging gun, then 
exclaiming: 

" 'Number one ! Ready ! Fire ! Load !' 

"Before the smoke had cleared away it was ob- 
served by the anxious watchers in the garrison that 
the shot fired from number one had taken effect 
on the enemy's gun by disabling it and putting it 
out of action. A cheer from many a lusty throat 
went up and joyful remarks were exchanged by the 
members of the brave little band within the fort. 
This happy interlude was broken by the sharp com- 
mand; 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 151 

" 'Number two ! Ready ! Fire ! Load !' 
"And so it went until all the guns bearing upon 
the mountain side were vieing with each other in 
the rapidity and the accuracy of their fire. A per- 
fect storm of shot and shell swept the slope. There 
was no escape from its terrible effect except by re- 
treat and change of position. The enemy accord- 
ingly moved and the next indication of the location 
of his artillery showed that it had taken position a 
quarter of a mile southward, on a kind of shoulder 
in the mountain side, but further removed from the 
fire of the fort." 

Of the destruction of the first Confederate gun 
which opened fire, Sergt. Steakley, Third M. S. M. 
Cavalry, says : 

"Company K, Third M. S. M., had been in charge 
of a battery of light artillery, consisting of four 
two-pounder Woodruff guns and two twelve- 
pounder brass mountain howitzers, and I believe 
I do not exaggerate when I say that nearly every 
man, — commissioned officers and privates, — could 
have hit a target the size of a man's body every 
shot at a quarter of a mile with those Woodruff 
guns All the sergeants of our company had prac- 
ticed with the 24-pounder and 32-pounder cannon 
in Fort Davidson, and it was nothing uncommon 
for one of us to decapitate a tree one or two miles 



152 PILOT KNOB 

away on the top of Shepherd's Mountain. I guess 
the Johnnies thought as much when a shot from 
one of the 32-pounders knocked one piece of their 
artillery into splintereens on top of Shepherd's 
Mountain after they had moved a part of their guns 
up there. The shot killed and wounded twelve 
men. This information I have from a Johnnie 
named Smith, who gave it to me in 1868. Smith 
said he was behind a rock near the gun at the time. 
The officers were passing the bottle freely and con- 
gratulating each other upon the fact that they would 
eat breakfast next morning in Pilot Knob. They 
never offered Smith a drop, poor devil, and while 
he was cursing them in his heart for slighting him 
when he was so worn out and dry, along came that 
sixty-four pounds of iron, — our cannon were double- 
charged, — and knocked their piece to splinters. 

" 'I never saw such skedaddling,' said Smith, 'and 
I thought to myself, "Yes, d — n you, some of you 
will probably eat your breakfast in the morning in 
H — 1, and I don't care!" ' 

"A shot from one of our pieces, fired, I think, by 
Sergt. James W. Evans, Co. K, knocked down one 
of the enemy's guns at the point where they first 
opened that morning. After that they moved their 
battery back to the westward, behind the southern 
extremity of Shepherd's Mountain, making it neces- 
sary for both armies to shoot at random. A few 
thirty-two pounder shells sent over by the Co. K 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GAP 153 

sergeants and six-pounder shots poured into them 
by Battery H, Second Missouri Light Artillery, 
soon drove the Johnnies and their cannon from 
there, when they moved to the top of Shepherd's 
Mountain, where they remained until dark, firing 
being kept up from both sides as long as we could 
see." 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN ON FORT 
DAVIDSON 

Just after daybreak on the morning of the 27th, 
Joseph A. Hughes, a citizen, but an ex-lieutenant 
of the Twenty-ninth Missouri Volunteer Infantry 
volunteered to go to the top of Pilot Knob Moun- 
tain and signal to the garrison of Fort Davidson 
the movements and number of the enemy in Arcadia 
Valley. Sergt. H. C. Wilkinson, Co. H, Forty- 
seventh Missouri Infantry, who observed the move- 
ments of the lone lookout with much interest, writes : 

"Since daylight we had been able to see Joseph 
A. Hughes, holding our signal flag, silhouetted 
against the clouds as he stood on top of the large 
ironstone rock that surmounted the bald, rugged 
peak of Pilot Knob. Every part of his body was 
plainly visible up there against the clouds, as he 
stood in full view of the enemy's host which surged 
at his very feet and filled the Arcadia Valley beyond. 
Not belonging to the United States Signal Corps, 
I could not read his 'wig- wags,' but I suppose there 
was a man in Fort Davidson who did understand 
them. For a time he and his flag were hidden from 
us by a cloud of fog that rose up over Pilot Knob; 

i54 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 155 

but the mist soon cleared away. At ten o'clock he 
was still at his post, wig-wagging messages as to how 
our shots were striking down about Ironton. As a 
shot was fired he would wave his flag up and down, 
then right, then left, then round and round his head 
in a circle, then forward and backward, but I could 
not read his signals." 

Says Colonel Fletcher, of the Forty-seventh Mo. 
Inf., speaking first of Hughes and then going on 
to other matters : 

"His (Hughes') signal so bewildered us as to 
numbers that we sent Col. James Lindsay, — who 
was there without a command and who came to us 
gun in hand, — to the peak of the Knob and on his 
arrival there we learned that the valley at Iron- 
ton and Arcadia was full of men, horses, wagons, 
and artillery. 

"The day wore on. Price, as I have since learned, 
was waiting the arrival of Marmaduke and his di- 
vision. About noon the head of their column came 
around the point of the mountain in full view and 
changed direction, forming line of battle across the 
valley from Shepherd's Mountain to Pilot Knob and 
extending far up the sides of both mountains. They 
sent in a flag of truce and demanded our surrender; 
General Ewing returned a very polite but emphatic 
refusal. They then moved their line forward some 
distance, halted, and again demanded our surrender, 



156 PILOT KNOB 

saying that they would not be responsible for con- 
sequences in case of our refusal. With unanimous 
concurrence of all the officers, — who were consulted, 
— Ewing answered that he would risk the conse- 
quences, and informed the enemy that he would fire 
on any flag of truce thereafter sent forward. At the 
same time he said : 'They shall play no Fort Pillow 
game on me.' They then advanced their skir- 
mishers, and Murphy sent a shell from one of our 
siege-guns into their midst and the battle began 
in earnest. I must not omit here to state that after 
the first assault had been made, and while they pre- 
pared for the second one, another white flag was dis- 
played along the projecting high rock near the left 
of their line. We directed all our guns upon it at 
once and it disappeared very suddenly." 

Captain Campbell, of the Fourteenth Iowa, gives 
an interesting account of a reconnoissance made by 
a part of his command just before the enemy de- 
livered his assault. Says Captain Campbell : 

"It was about one o'clock p. m. General Ewing 
now directed me to move my command and post 
them on the north end of Shepherd's Mountain, a 
quarter of a mile away. 

" 'General,' I replied, 'we should concentrate all 
our force here,' for I believed there was a desperate 
battle coming on. 'But,' I added, 'if this is your 
order, I will obey.' 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 157 

" 'I think you had better go, Captain,' he an- 
swered; so I passed out of the fort, knowing that 
to obey meant capture or a miracle if we ever re- 
turned. 

"We moved out of the rifle-pit and marched in 
column to the point designated, where I formed line 
of battle and ordered Lieutenant Thompson to move 
to the front and deploy Co. D as skirmishers. The 
north face of Shepherd's Mountain had been cleared 
of timber and brush at a previous date but the 
growth was still thick a short distance south and 
west of our position. Here we could get a view of 
the upper end of Arcadia Valley, south of Pilot 
Knob, where we could see lines of cavalry horses 
closely banked together, one man holding five horses. 
They were hidden from view of the fort by timber. 
I sent Sergeant Beckwith to notify General Ewing 
of the location of the horses. I also told the Ser- 
geant to point out their direction to the General and, 
if the latter wanted to burst a few shells among 
them, I would stand on a bank of cord wood near 
by and signal with my handkerchief whether the 
shot was too high or too far to the right. I saw a 
thirty-two pounder turn in that direction and then 
fire. The shell burst too high and too far to the 
right. I signaled to the east, then down. The 
next shell came near the mark but still high and too 
much to the right. Again I signaled east, then down. 
The third shell burst in the midst of the horses. 



158 PILOT KNOB 

Then there was pandemonium; the whole cavalcade 
of horses broke loose and scattered in every direc- 
tion. It was the effect I desired, for I wanted to 
bring 1 on the engagement and have it over. 

"It was now between one and two o'clock in the 
afternoon. We could see the enemy's troops rapidly 
forming in line of battle. I was confident the same 
operations were going on in my front, so I consulted 
my officers with regard to one of them going to 
warn General Ewing to make preparations in haste, 
as the battle was about to burst forth. 

"They urged me to go, saying: 

" 'You will have more influence with him than 
any of us.' 

"So I said, 'Captain Davidson, you take com- 
mand. If you are attacked before my return, call 
in the skirmishers and deliver your fire, and fall 
back in good order/ 

"I then ran down to the fort and up through the 
sally-port. The General was waiting for me and 
asked the reason of my haste. I explained the sit- 
uation in as few words as possible, and told him 
that the impending battle was likely to begin at any 
moment." 

Lieut. Smith Thompson, of Co. D, Fourteenth 
Iowa, was wounded during this reconnoissance. 
He relates the circumstances as follows : 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 159 

"We were among the trees and rocks which 
afforded some protection. The enemy's line of 
battle advancing at a rapid step, I climbed upon 
a high rock to see, if possible, what their forces 
were in our front. I had not been on the rock a 
half -minute before several balls struck it. I jumped 
down and started down the line, cautioning the men 
to keep well under cover because their time was 
nearly out and I wanted to take them all home to 
their mothers. As I moved down the line, a Con- 
federate raised up behind a rock not over two rods 
from my left hand. He aimed at me for some 
time before he shot. If my right hand had not been 
at that time in a sling from a wound I could have 
used my revolver and he would not have fired his 
piece. I walked straight forward, neither faster 
nor slower, keeping my side to him, for I thought 
he would make a good shot if he hit me. He came 
so near missing me that he struck the leg I was 
stepping with, the ball passing directly through the 
upper part of the lower third of my left thigh. 

" We then retreated to the fort ; Lieutenant Hoff- 
bauer, who came out with an order to me, taking 
command of the skirmishers and falling back to the 
reserve, while I was helped to the fort. The skir- 
mishers followed.'* 

Another reconnoissance to the west of the fort, — 
made somewhat earlier in the day, — is described by 



i6o PILOT KNOB 

Capt. H. B. Milks, Co. H, Third M. S. M. Cavalry, 
as follows: 

"About 9 a. m., General Ewing directed me to 
take a lieutenant whose name I do not recall, 1 and 
forty men of Colonel Fletcher's regiment and reoc- 
cupy a picket post three-fourths of a mile west of 
the fort from which the picket had been driven in. 
The command assigned me was composed of raw 
recruits not yet mustered or drilled, so I requested 
permission to take my own company but was per- 
mitted to take only twenty of them, in addition to 
the recruits mentioned. Under cover of the brush 
we proceeded west along the northern base of Shep- 
herd's Mountain until within rifle range of the post 
we were to hold. A halt for observation disclosed 
the enemy, four or five hundred strong, mounted 
and marching toward the fort between us and our 
objective point. Our cover extended only a short 
distance, and it was folly to attack, so we moved to- 
ward a cliff a short distance further west where 
cavalry could not charge us. 

"When we reached that point the valley west of 
the mountain was in plain view. Fully a half mile 
away the enemy's rear was approaching while his 
advance was passing almost beneath us. A volley 
from our small force gave them a welcoming salute 

1 It was Lieutenant E. P. Settle, Co. H, Forty-seventh, Mis- 
souri Volunteers. 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 161 

of sixty rifles. Their entire column halted, and 
skirmishers were thrown out but did not find the 
saluting party as it had taken higher and better 
cover. We lay low until the skirmishers returned, 
yet their force, apparently undecided, still did not 
move. We then started toward the fort by a route 
along the northern slope of the mountain until we 
reached a point which gave us a view of the fort and 
the valley north of it. Here we discovered that the 
fort and rifle-pits were surrounded by the assault- 
ing enemy. Seeing us, and probably mistaking us 
for the other fellows, several of the field guns in the 
fort opened on us, their shots passing close over our 
heads so that we were compelled to take cover. I 
called for two volunteers to go to the fort and let 
our position be known. William Wilkinson and 
Hermann Wirtz, of my company, volunteered and 
succeeded in getting through. We anxiously 
awaited results or an opportunity to do something. 
We got the latter, for the enemy suddenly came 
upon our right flank and rear in numbers thrice our 
own. Two or three volleys repulsed them, for they 
were as surprised as we were. As twilight set in, 
we succeeded in reaching the fort by a roundabout 
way." 

Among the men in the south rifle-pit when the re- 
treating Fourteenth Iowa came in, was Private 
Azariah Martin, of the Forty-seventh Missouri Vol- 



1 62 PILOT KNOB 

unteer Infantry, who gives a vivid description of 
the desperate defense against Marmaduke's charging 
division at that point, as well as of the events imme- 
diately preceding it. Early in the day, Capt. P. I. 
Powers, of Private Martin's company, had noticed 
that the ditch would be enfiladed from Shepherd's 
Mountain and had ordered his men to lay a stick of 
timber across the rifle-pit on the exposed flank and 
to throw their blankets over it, affording a protection 
which was very welcome later in the day. Private 
Martin continues : 

"I think it was nearly ten o'clock in the morning 
when we saw a skirmish-line advancing down the 
western side of Pilot Knob Mountain toward us, 
and we at once opened fire on them with our muskets 
and soon drove them to cover, — all except one saucy 
fellow on a white horse who was up on the slope of 
the mountain. He was five or six hundred yards 
from us, but we raised our sights and sent him to 
cover in a hurry. About this time the 'Knob Store' 
and surrounding buildings were fairly riddled with 
grape and canister from our guns on the east side 
of the fort, as the 'Knob Store' and the iron furnace 
just beyond were only about four hundred yards 
east of the fort, along the northwest base of Pilot 
Knob Mountain. The old store is now gone, but 
the warehouse still stands, with fourteen shot-holes 
of grape or canister, — I think the latter, — in its side, 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 163 

and five in the door end. My belief is that one or 
two of these shot-holes were put there by one of 
Montgomery's guns, then mounted near the south- 
east corner of the fort. 

"Cannonading continued almost without cessation 
through the day. The Confederates tried to reach 
us with their guns from near where the Ironton 
depot now stands, or perhaps somewhat west of it. 
where the point of Shepherd's Mountain afforded 
them more protection from our fire. Early in the 
day their shots went swishing by east of us. My 
wife, then a small girl, well remembers hearing 
those screeching shells pass over her father's house 
in the town of Pilot Knob. Later in the day their 
shots struck the ground some thirty or forty yards 
east of our position. I noticed one unexploded shell 
which came bouncing along near our front. It had 
scarcely stopped before Comrade Jacob C. Belmar, 
of my company, ran out and picked it up. I thought 
he might learn better some day. It was about 
twelve o'clock, I should judge, when twenty volun- 
teers were called for in our company, who, under 
our Lieut. E. P. Settle, were to go with Captain 
Milks and sixty men of the Third M. S. M. Cavalry 
to the northwest slope of Shepherd's Mountain. I 
saw them start off in that direction and then knew 
no more of them until after dark that night. 

"About two o'clock p. m., while twenty or thirty 
men of the Fourteenth Iowa were over on the near- 



164 PILOT KNOB 

est point of Shepherd's Mountain, in plain view of 
us and not over two hundred yards away, all at once 
the Confederate guns opened on us from the spur of 
Shepherd's Mountain east of the crest. The first 
shot cut uncomfortably close to our heads and struck 
in the rifle-pit between Captain Adair's feet, causing 
him to jump high in air. He ripped out an oath 
and with his company, F, of the Forty-seventh 
Missouri, broke for the sally-port and through it 
into the fort. Almost at the same moment, a fear- 
ful volley was poured into the Fourteenth Iowa boys 
on Shepherd's Mountain from the ravine on 
the northeastern side of the mountain. Two of the 
boys of the 14th were wounded and fell down the 
steep mountain side but, with the coolness of veter- 
ans, the remainder of the detachment descended 
from their position, carefully picked up their two 
wounded comrades and supported them into the 
fort, passing us as they went in. Immediately after 
I saw the whole side of Shepherd's Mountain be- 
come fairly black with the mass of the enemy, who 
came rushing down upon the flat toward us. As the 
guns also were still playing on us from the moun- 
tain, I said to Captain Powers, 

" 'Captain, we had better go into the fort/ 
" 'We have no orders to go in yet,' he answered. 
"Then he ran up near the fort and called to Gen- 
eral Ewing. The General shouted back, " 'Yes, 
come in at once !' 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 165 

"But before the Captain returned to us we, from 
behind our blanket cover, delivered a sharp left 
oblique fire into the thickest mass of the enemy we 
then could see rushing down the mountain side ; and 
then we ran for the sally-port and into the fort. 
We already had run unnecessary risk in remaining 
there in such an exposed position to no purpose. 

"When I reached the inside of the fort, I turned 
to my left and went to the parapet at one of the 
southwest angles, near one of the guns of Mont- 
gomery's battery, which was mounted on a rather 
high embankment. I was firing into the enemy's 
line, then not over twenty yards from us, when a 
Confederate shell exploded on the parapet near the 
gun mentioned and a fragment struck a man at my 
left. He fell diagonally in front of me, grasping 
the right breast of my jacket with his left hand and 
at the same instant I felt something, like a blunt- 
ended handspike, strike my left hip. It was the 
fragment of the bursting shell which had first struck 
my comrade in the left side. His weight and the 
shock of the piece of shell striking me caused me to 
fall with him down the steep embankment, and the 
boys at once laid hold of us to drag us out of the 
way. 

" 'Hold on, boys,' I cried ; T'm not dead and if 
you'll wait till I get this man's hand loose from 
my jacket, I'll get up; for I'm not much hurt.' 

"He had the 'death grip' on my coat, so I had 



1 66 PILOT KNOB 

to loosen his grasp, one finger at a time, after which 
I got up, as sound as a dollar. As the boys returned 
from dragging the dead man out of the way, I asked 
them how much of a wound he had, and they an- 
swered that he was cut almost in two. I never 
knew who he was or to what organization he be- 
longed; there was no time for inquiries then. 

"The Confederates could not long endure our 
murderous fire at such close range. What manner 
of men could? They soon fled in every direction; 
taking cover in the creek bed, — from eighty to three 
hundred yards from us, — where they at once began 
a sharpshooting practice at us and our exposed 
gunners, which compelled the latter to leave their 
guns silent and lie idle until we drove the enemy 
into hiding. Sergt. H. C. Wilkinson called to- 
gether twenty or twenty-five men of our company, — 
as many as he could find in the fort, — and instructed 
us to aim just under the smoke of the sharpshooters' 
guns and at its next rise, to fire. I can tell you, we 
soon lessened their fire from that near-by creekbed." 

Sergt. H. C. Wilkinson, mentioned above, says, 
in referring to the climax of the battle : 

"A fearful task was before us. Two-thirds of 
the circumference of the fort, — east, south, and 
west, — were surrounded by a dense mass of in- 
fantry, their guns were still hurling shot and shell 






THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 167 

at the fort from the heights beyond, and out of the 
west and northwest came Slayback and Freeman, 
with a dark cloud of cavalry, to cut us down if we 
attempted to escape. As I came in ( from the south 
rifle-pit) I saw the stately form of General Ewing, 
his arms folded, his mouth tightly closed, and his 
face slightly pale, but firm as a 'stone wall.' He 
was walking erect from side to side, looking here 
and there at the surging mass around us. Then 
came the wounded lieutenant of the brave old Four- 
teenth Iowa (Lieut. Smith Thompson) limping 
hither and thither, cheering the boys to do their best. 
I could see Captain Campbell, Adjutant Murphy, 
and other gallant officers, rushing from side to 
side and using all the power that was in them to 
direct and encourage the boys who were then down 
on their knees at the parapets, pouring lead into those 
charging hosts of the enemy. Oh, but it was hot 
there! In a moment our smoke hung like a dense 
cloud about two feet above the parapet, while the 
smoke from the enemy's muskets came down almost 
to their knees, hiding their bodies, though beneath 
the smoke we could see the swarms of fast moving 
legs and feet as they seemed to swerve about from 
left to right, from right to left. Lieutenant Settle 
afterward told me that from his position on Shep- 
herd's Mountain Fort Davidson looked like a 
mighty, burning tar-kiln, as our smoke rose slowly 
heavenward, for there was not enough breeze to lift 



1 68 PILOT KNOB 

the folds of 'Old Glory' that hung at the peak of 
the flag-staff high over our heads. 

"I took my place among the men at the parapet 
and at once began firing, stepping back to reload, 
then advancing up the steps, kneeling and firing 
again. As I was thus engaged, Comrade George B. 
Hammock, Co. H, Forty-seventh Missouri, who was 
rapidly reloading near me, pointed to his aged 
father, who was standing by him. The latter's 
pockets were filled with cartridges and both of his 
hands were busy handling and tearing them and 
giving caps to his son and to all others within reach. 
I instantly availed myself of the already torn car- 
tridges which he ofTered me and the gun caps with 
them, as they enabled me to fire much faster. I saw 
one or two other aged patriots thus engaged, who, 
though too feeble to handle guns, were not too feeble 
to aid us by 'tearing cartridges' for us. About this 
time, too, I saw old A. Jack Lloyd beside me, his 
face wearing an expression which I should almost 
call 'the sublime smile.' The sweat was running 
down his face as though he had been splitting fence 
rails in the middle of August. 

" 'Orderly,' said he, 'feel o' my gun!' 
"I did so. It was as hot as boiling water could 
have made it." 

Col. David Murphy, — who had accepted a com- 
mission as First Lieutenant and Adjutant of the 






THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 169 

Forty-seventh Missouri Volunteers when that regi- 
ment was organized by Colonel Fletcher in August, 
1864, and who was commanding the artillery in 
Fort Davidson, — was in peculiarly favorable posi- 
tion to know what transpired at the stormcenter of 
battle during those few tense, nerve-trying moments 
when the enemy's overwhelming numbers were 
striving to storm the works. His description is both 
vivid and inspiring. He says : 

"The change from the artillery duel with the 
enemy's pieces on the mountain side, to the advance 
of his infantry, twelve thousand strong, occupied 
some moments, during which the men behind the 
guns in the fort were assured that the fight was 
ours. The preliminary effort of the artillery hav- 
ing been decided in our favor, it was urged that all 
we had to do was to exercise the same skill and 
bravery in dealing with the assaulting force and the 
victory would rest with us. The men responded 
cheerily and their bearing and conduct were such 
as to impress the utmost confidence in the result of 
the oncoming assault. 

"In due time the attacking column, having de- 
ployed into line just beyond the point-blank range 
of our guns, began the advance, broke into the 
double-quick, and then into the charge. The rebel 
yell arose upon the silent air, to be responded to by 
the hoarse reverberation of the entire armament of 



170 PILOT KNOB 

the fort. The advancing line came up to a point 
where the ditch encircling the fort was discovered, 
and then it turned in full retreat. It would have 
been the part of chivalry, no doubt, for the men 
behind the guns to have ceased firing upon the backs 
of their disappointed foes; but no permission was 
given for the indulgence of this feeling, had it ex- 
isted. 

"'Continue firing!' came the stern command. 
'Keep it up, men.' 

"But the battle was not ended. Marmaduke's 
division, which had maintained its position on the 
mountain side, moved simultaneously with the di- 
vision of Fagan, but did not have so clear a field for 
a retrograde movement as did the last named. In- 
stead, it sought cover behind the banks of Stout's 
Creek, which skirted the base of Shepherd's Moun- 
tain just at the limit of musket range. A constant 
and wicked fire came from the bed of the creek, and 
the attention of the garrison was attracted to the 
necessity of smothering it. 

"Just then the broken lines of Fagan's division 
were rallied beyond the gorge of the two mountains, 
and, reforming, again essayed a charge. I saw at 
a glance that the fort would be subject to a con- 
verging fire from the two portions of the assaulting 
body, and immediately began to urge the defenders 
to a renewed and more determined defense. Some 
of our men had become disheartened and discour- 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 171 

aged and had concealed themselves wherever cover 
could be found. To these I addressed myself and 
demanded of them the cause of their miscon- 
duct. 

" 'My gun won't go off,' said one. 

"I pressed him to the face of the rampart. 

" 'Give me your gun,' I commanded. 

"Then I jumped upon a gun-carriage, thence to 
the parapet, and fired the gun. 

" 'The gun is all right,' I declared, and threw it 
back to the astonished owner. 

' 'Commence fighting,' I ordered, 'and if I see 
you turn your back again, I'll shoot you down in 
your tracks.' 

"This was said in a loud voice so as to be heard 
by all within hearing. Another man complained of 
his gun. I fired that one and threw it back to its 
owner, cautioning him to keep on fighting or an 
example would be made of him. Then, in order to 
encourage the men at the guns, who were doing 
their duty with great bravery, I picked up a hand- 
ful of rocks from the top of the parapet and, as the 
assaulting column began its onward movement, I 
commenced throwing the rocks at them, urging 
them in a loud voice to come on. 

" 'We will clean you out as fast as you come !' I 
shouted in a boastful way. 

"All this was done to inspire the men with the 
idea that there was as little danger in exposing one's 



i 7 2 PILOT KNOB 

person and exhibiting a manner of defiance as in 
endeavoring to skulk or hide. 

"As I passed on, urging the gun detachments to 
keep up their gallant work, I came to gun Number 
7, in charge of Lieutenant Yerger, of the First In- 
fantry, M. S. M. He had taken the place of one 
of his gunners who had been killed, and was zeal- 
ously acting as Cannoneer Number One. As I 
reached the gun, the lieutenant fell back exhausted 
and entirely overcome. I jumped down, took from 
his hand the sponge staff and, after loading the gun 
for about four rounds, I found myself in the same 
condition. I was about to give the order to the 
gun crew to cease firing when the lieutenant 
grabbed the sponge staff from my hand, exclaiming : 

" 'All right, Major! I've got my wind again/ 

"The men on gun Number Six called out for am- 
munition. 

" 'Stand to your gun, men !' I cried. 'Not one 
man shall leave his place.' 

"Saying this, I jumped down to where the am- 
munition was placed at the foot of the gun platform 
and called upon one of the colored men to help me 
throw the box of ammunition up to the top of the 
platform. He responded; and just as we had 
the box raised from the ground and were giving 
it the swing a shot came from the mountain gorge 
and tore away the back of my helper's head. He 
fell, and I called on a bystander to take his place. 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 173 

This man stood apparently transfixed with horror 
at the sight of the decapitated negro. I sprang at 
him, caught him by the lapel of his coat and, with 
one jerk, landed him astride the prostrate form. 

" 'Lift, d — n you!' I shouted, and he and I lifted 
the box and the gun crew went to work with re- 
newed vigor after the short respite obtained during 
the episode mentioned. 

"The second assault was by this time in full tide 
and, the crucial moment, in my opinion, having 
been reached, I again mounted the parapet and 
urged the defenders by word and action to re- 
doubled efforts. Seeing this, General Ewing came 
to where I stood and commanded me to come down. 

" 'Come down, Major, or you will be killed !' ex- 
claimed the General. 

" 'That's what I'm here for,' I answered in a loud 
voice. 'There never was a prettier place in this 
world to die than right here.' 

"At this sally the men gave an exultant and re- 
sponding cheer and again bent to their work. The 
effect of their efforts was soon apparent. The ad- 
vancing line was met by a perfect storm of well- 
directed shot and shell. It wavered, hesitated, then 
broke in confusion and never halted again until the 
hills of Arcadia had been passed and shelter taken 
in its peaceful and beautiful valley." 

Lieut. Smith F. Thompson, Co. D, Fourteenth 



174 PILOT KNOB 

Iowa, says of Colonel Murphy's conduct during the 
assault : 

"Colonel Murphy, who commanded the artillery 
in the fort, was one of the bravest men I ever saw 
during the war. He stood upon the parapets of the 
fort, swung his hat, and shouted, when the charging 
forces of the enemy were not ten rods from the fort, 
'Come on ! We are waiting for you !' 

"His gallantry and courage throughout the de- 
fense of Pilot Knob justly entitled him to the name 
given him by the correspondent of the Missouri Re- 
publican, — 'the Marshal Ney of Missouri.' " 

Capt. William J. Campbell, commanding the de- 
tachment of the Fourteenth Iowa, says : 

"The battle was now on in earnest, the enemy's 
charge having begun. I heard someone call out 
to the gunners of a thirty-two pound siege gun, 
north of the gate on the east side of the fort, to 
double shot the piece with canister. He then ran 
to the next gun and gave the same order. The first 
gun was fired and thrown off its carriage to the 
ground. I caught the young man before he got 
to the third gun and inquired if the order came from 
General Ewing. He replied that it did not ; that he 
was giving it on his own responsibility, adding that 
he was the general's orderly. The second gun was 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 175 

fired and tipped back and almost ran off its trail 
beam, the breech end breaking a hole in the gun 
platform. The gunners by a desperate effort re- 
stored it to its former position. I instructed them 
not to load any more guns in that manner, or we 
would have all the artillery in the works dismounted. 

"The battle had now reached its height of fury 
and carnage. The enemy's ranks were being deci- 
mated by our musketry while our artillery tore great 
gaps through them. An officer passed me, his left 
hand pressed against his side, and sank down near 
the stairs of the sally-port. I thought it was Gen- 
eral Ewing and I was shocked to think that such a 
misfortune had occurred so early in the engage- 
ment; but a moment later General Ewing himself 
came running from the west side of the fort, his 
right hand uplifted, and cried to me: 

" 'Captain, get twenty men, — volunteers, — to 
stand at the gate till the death!' 

"I replied : 'General, I will get the men.' 

"I quickly secured twenty men 2 and rushed them 
to the gate. The gate, or drawbridge, hung sus- 
pended by one rope and was only half closed, as 
the other rope had broken in pulling it up. We 
barricaded the passage with empty barrels and made 
it secure. The enemy's lines now gave way and 

2 The men he secured were headed by Sergeant H. C. 
Wilkinson, Forty-seventh Missouri Infantry; but the ser- 
geant reached and guarded the gate with only four men. 



176 PILOT KNOB 

fell back but immediately reformed and made a 
second charge, advancing to within fifty yards of 
our works. Then again they broke in confusion, 
our fire still dealing death and destruction through 
their ranks. 

"After the fight began I noticed officers and men 
going to a barrel, that contained whiskey for medic- 
inal purposes, and helping themselves at will. I 
called General Ewing's attention to the matter and 
told him that that barrel of whiskey would whip us 
quicker than the enemy. His reply was : 

" 'Captain, place two guards over it, and forbid 
anyone to touch it except by order of the surgeons.' 

"I did as ordered but, to my surprise, one of the 
guards came and informed me that certain militia 
officers shoved them to one side and persisted 
in helping themselves. I then sent Captain Miles, 
of Co. C, Fourteenth Iowa, — who was slightly 
wounded in the knee and unable to stand on the 
platform, — with orders to relieve the guard and to 
shoot the first man who attempted to touch the 
liquor without proper authority. This ended the af- 
fair, though some were pretty drunk before the 
battle ended. 

"The enemy was now making his third desperate 
charge, and only veteran soldiers can appreciate 
what that means. If this could be repulsed, the 
worst part of the battle would be over. We sprang 
upon the banquette to see where the men could best 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 177 

be posted to meet the terrible on-coming masses of 
the enemy. We could count three long lines, each 
four ranks deep, coming from two directions, while 
our artillery and musketry mowed down their ranks. 
In a moment their front line went down in the ditch. 
I shouted to my men: 

" 'Turn your fire into the ditch! The enemy is 
in the ditch!' 

''Then I jumped off and ran to notify General 
Ewing. I had only made two or three steps when 
an artilleryman called to me in a hoarse voice: 

" 'Get out the hand grenades !' 

"'Where?' I asked. 

" Tn the magazine yonder.' 

"I ran past ten or fifteen colored men, — non-com- 
batants, — and told them to follow me. We ran 
into the magazine, and I cautioned them to be care- 
ful in handling the grenades, as they were easily ex- 
ploded. Then we rushed back to the banquette and 
passed them to the men in front, with orders to 
throw them into the ditch. Pandemonium instantly 
broke loose. Above the roar of the battle it was 
a perfect saturnalia of the damned. Men were 
blown above the parapet and fell back dead; the 
ditches were cleared as if by magic. It struck terror 
to the enemy's lines, and they fell back in disorder; 
but our fire never slackened until they were out of 
range. It was now sundown, and night closed the 
contest. Everyone engaged was tired, hot, and wet 



178 PILOT KNOB 

with perspiration, as if they had been fighting fire. 
So far we had won the victory. 

"My attention was called to one of our men, who 
lay wounded outside the works. Before I could get 
through the sally-port I had to clear the passageway 
of forty or fifty men who had forced the guard 
back to the further end of the gangway. I had 
placed the guard at the head of the stairs in antici- 
pation of just such a contingency. I found the 
guard almost smothered, and asked him why he 
allowed those skulkers in there. He replied that 
they had crowded him back by force and that he 
could not bayonet all of them. At length we 
opened the door and carried our brave comrade in- 
side the fort, where we placed him in care of a sur- 
geon. He had lain out there during all that dread- 
ful contest and was glad, indeed, to see us come to 
his aid." 

Sergeant-Major John H. Delano, Forty-seventh 
Missouri Infantry Volunteers, — who was later 
commissioned Second Lieutenant of Co. E, of the 
same regiment, — had a narrow escape from capture 
or death when the enemy's assault came, for he was 
caught outside the works. 

"About eleven o'clock," says Sergeant-Major 
Delano, "everything seemed to be quiet and we were 
joking about the enemy not coming, while, in fact, 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 179 

he was then getting into position to assault us. I 
said to Lieutenant-Colonel Maupin that I would go 
over to the stables and get my horse. 

" 'Well, take my horse over and have him fed,' 
said he. T don't believe they are coming, anyway.' 

"I rode to the stables, a distance of about ten 
blocks or one-third of a mile. There I got out my 
little gray mare and was tightening the cinch when, 
— biz, zip, bang! — the balls began flying over my 
head and the Confederates were making their charge 
on Fort Davidson! The first thought that popped 
into my head was that I didn't belong there ; I must 
get into the fort. I bounced into my saddle and 
started west, full lope. 

"We had two companies in the rifle-pits, and 
they as well as the artillery and infantry in the fort 
were firing at the charging enemy. I went due west 
to the church, then turned south toward the fort 
along the front of the north rifle-pit to the draw- 
bridge at the fort's entrance. The enemy covered 
the plain east of our works, so I was in the cross- 
fire between them and the rifle-pit. As I reached 
the fort and turned on the drawbridge to cross, a 
man at the gate pulled down on me with his gun. 
Jim Shields, of Captain Hunter's company, who was 
standing by him, saw and recognized me. 

"Don't shoot our men!' shouted Jim, hitting the 
gun and knocking it up ; and I rode by in safety. 

"As the draw was broken the bridge could not 



180 PILOT KNOB 

be raised, and our boys were barricading the gate 
as I passed. At the time I went into the fort the 
Confederates were not thirty feet away, and I was 
fairly among them but did not know it. I hitched 
my horse and went to work shooting, while three 
men loaded for me. 

"The charge was soon over. The enemy had to 
fall back, leaving the ground covered with their 
men. They came up out of the creek bed and fell 
back into it again. From there sharpshooters were 
continually picking off our artillerymen. Judging 
by appearances, we supposed that there were only a 
few here and there along the bed of the creek who 
were doing this mischief ; and Captain Mace, of Co. 
G, filed down the south rifle-pit with his company. 
About half-way down he and his men jumped out 
of the pit to charge. They had hardly started when 
there was a volley along the whole length of the 
creek bed, and Captain Mace and his followers came 
rushing back. Fortunately none were hurt. 

"General Ewing placed Adjutant Murphy, who 
was an experienced gunner, in charge of the guns in 
the fort, and he kept the twenty-fours and thirty- 
twos talking at every chance. An old army officer, 
Captain Purcell, was placed in charge of a thirty- 
two pounder cannon ; his gun being manned entirely 
by negroes who lived at Pilot Knob and who had 
never been in battle before. They soon got the 
hang of things and did well until their gun was dis- 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 181 

mounted. This gun seemed to suffer the most; 
for Captain Purcell and three or four of the negroes 
were killed and one or two were wounded. The 
enemy had guns mounted on Shepherd's Mountain, 
but they were so high up that they could not be de- 
pressed to shoot into the fort. Our artillery dis- 
mounted one of the guns and the others did them 
no good. I do not recall a single shot falling into 
the fort during the afternoon; the damage was all 
done by their sharpshooters picking off our gunners. 
General Price's men had filled up pretty well with 
whiskey at Ironton, and during the night of the 
27th, after their dead had lain upon the battlefield 
all the afternoon, the stench was fearful, smelling 
like an overcrowded grog-shop. Our shelter-tents, 
had been left standing, and many of the enemy 
crawled into them and died there, and the hot after- 
noon sun that beat down on them partly accounted 
for the odor." 

Sergt. James C. Steakley, Co. K, Third M. S. M. 
Cavalry, fell back into the fort when the charge 
came. His account of his experiences is detailed 
and spirited. He writes: 

"After the first charge made by the enemy in 
Ironton that morning I went into the skirmish-line, 
where I remained all day on the south and west 
sides of Pilot Knob Mountain, under command of 



1 82 PILOT KNOB 

Lieut. Pape, one of the best and bravest men that 
ever lived. It was a terrible thicket of undergrowth 
in which we were in line, and if we had possessed 
long range guns we could have picked off hundreds 
of the enemy. But as we were armed chiefly with 
pistols we could not do much except stay there until 
run out by the enemy. I was near the right of our 
skirmish-line and used a Colt's revolving rifle until 
the thing got choked, when I threw it away. By 
this time the enemy was close to us and a good 
eight-inch navy pistol acted very well. The sur- 
prising thing was that the Johnnies threw grape and 
canister for two solid hours before we were forced 
to leave, — not by the artillery fire but by the ap- 
proach of their dismounted men. The grape went 
over and around us but never touched a man of us ; 
sure, I should not ask anyone to dodge one of them 
for me, for I heard them coming, passing, and go- 
ing. 

"Just before our skirmish-line was compelled to 
give way, — not long before the enemy made his final 
assault on our fortifications, — poor Joseph L. Wil- 
liams, of my company, was standing about ten feet 
from me in the skirmish-line. I heard a thump and, 
looking around, saw Comrade Williams put his 
hand to his right breast and, turning very pale, look 
at me. Of course I knew what had happened; but 
as he did not fall nor speak I said: 

" 'What is the matter, Fate (La Fayette) ?' 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 183 

" 'Jim, I am shot/ he replied, with a gasp. 
"I saw that he would not fall, so I said : 
" 'Get back to the relief if you can.' 
"Our relief was at the tramway track, on which 
iron ore was taken from the mines to the furnaces. 
Poor Williams turned about and looked at me, say- 
ing: 

" 'My belt hurts me.' 

"I told him to take it off. He did so, and then 
continued : 

" Til leave it and my gun here,' referring to his 
Wesson rifle. 

" 'All right, Fate,' I replied. T will bring them 
when I come.' 

" 'Yes, Jim,' said he, 'you bring them both when 
you come, if you get out alive.' 

" 'All right, Fate,' I answered, anxious to see him 
start to the rear for fear he would fall and possibly 
have to be left. Twenty or thirty minutes later we 
all went to the rear. I did not see any of our skir- 
mishers come in after I reached the station of the 
relief on the tramway track. When I walked up, 
Comrade Williams was lying on his face, groaning 
terribly. At that time he was the only one of our 
squad of skirmishers who had been wounded that 
day. I said to our commander : 

" 'Lieutenant, why can't this man be taken to the 
hospital ?' 

"I knew that no officer loved his men better than 



1 84 PILOT KNOB 

Lieutenant Pape. He had Williams placed on a 
horse and Samuel Rhodes and Sergt. M. V. B. 
Childers, of our company, walked beside him, hold- 
ing him on the horse. They took him to the hos- 
pital near the fort, where he died. Comrade 
Rhodes also was wounded while on the way to the 
hospital. 

"Soon after our skirmishers were forced back 
out of the timber we took our horses and formed 
a line across the main street of 'Knob Town,' where 
we remained standing and holding our horses until 
the enemy made his final assault, when we were 
forced to abandon our horses and run for our lives, 
as otherwise we would have been cut off from the 
fortifications. We ran with a will to the north 
rifle-pit, none of us being wounded except Sergt. 
H. Bidewell, of Co. K, who was hit in the knee and 
knocked down when about twenty feet from the 
rifle-pit. Being very near him as he fell, I grabbed 
him and rolled him into the pit like a pair of old- 
fashioned winding blades. 

"As soon as I landed in the rifle-pit I seized an 
Austrian rifle which had been dropped by someone 
and begged some cartridges from an infantryman. 
Along the ditch toward Fort Davidson, men were 
crammed and piled under the little bridge across the 
ditch like hogs in their bed in the dead of winter, 
and, although there were guns lying in the ditch and 
on its bank, some of those cowards had no guns and 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 185 

those who had were not using them any more than 
if the enemy were forty miles away. My own 
hands and face were nearly as black with wet and 
burnt powder as those of the brave negroes, who 
were fighting like heroes; so I shouted at the fel- 
lows under the bridge: 

" 'Get out of here, you d — d cowards, and go to 
fighting! What are you doing here, anyhow?' 

"They all got out but whether they went to fight- 
ing or not I don't know. After, as I supposed, 
scaring them almost to death, I passed on with my 
Austrian rifle toward the wall of the fort. Then I 
saw some of the enemy's cavalry passing in single 
file west of the works and going north toward the 
railroad. I fired at them, hitting one who was rid- 
ing an almost snow-white horse and who could not 
have been less than seven hundred yards away. 
The enemy's cavalry then began to form a line 
about two hundred yards north of the rifle-pit. 
Some forty of us charged out of the pit and routed 
them, wounding one Johnnie whom we went to 
pick up. One of the men with us was a brave, 
generous little Frenchman named, I believe, Charles 
Crozat. He was a tailor in Ironton, whose resi- 
dence and shop were on Main Street, near the Reid 
Hotel, in the house known afterward as the General 
Blair House. I don't know that he belonged to any 
military organization, but he did not have to to be 
a good soldier. Crozat and I ran to the wounded 



186 PILOT KNOB 

Johnnie and stood off some of the others of our 
men who would possibly have harmed him further; 
after which, his thigh being broken, we carried him 
into the fort. 

"There, looking over the south wall, I saw sev- 
eral thousand Rebs coming in full charge up the 
valley from Ironton. The fort was constructed of 
dirt and gunny sacks filled with dirt, built up like 
brick work, the walls being four or four and a half 
feet high and of about the same thickness. All 
around it was a ditch ten feet deep and twelve feet 
wide. Inside, in the center of the fort, was the 
magazine with the flag-pole on top of it and Old 
Glory floating at its peak as beautiful as ever except 
that the drizzling rain prevented it from swinging 
out as buoyantly as the heart would wish on such an 
occasion. Besides the twenty-four and thirty-two 
pounders, the two twelve-pounder brass howitzers 
and four two-pounder Woodruff guns, there were 
several large mortars in the fort, though I never 
heard of their being used. The men with small 
arms stood four to six deep around the inside of 
the walls, especially on the side next the enemy. 

"In the heat of the action one of the twenty-four 
pounders, in the northeast corner of the fort near 
the drawbridge, was dismounted. It was in charge 
of Sergt. Enoch Virgin; and, I suppose, as he was 
shooting at a larger 'buck' than he had been used 
to prior to his enlistment, he got excited for fear 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 187 

he might miss it and fired his gun before it was 'at 
his shoulder,' or, in other words, run into battery. 
The result was that it kicked over on the ground 
and lay there, dead as a door-nail. Enough men 
could not get around it to remount it, so from that 
time on only three of the thirty-two pounder guns 
were in action. 

"While the enemy was charging the fort from 
the west, south, and east, — the greater number com- 
ing up the valley from the south, — those six heavy 
guns inside the fort, double charged every shot, the 
two brass guns of Battery H, and the men with 
small arms in the rifle-pits and fort, were all pour- 
ing death and destruction into the charging masses. 
So far as I could see, every man in the fort was all 
enthusiasm and fight, each vieing with the comrade 
next him to shoot the fastest and most accurately. 
One of the Confederate commanders was seen to 
fall from his horse about two hundred and fifty 
yards from the works. An officer of theirs, with 
his dying breath, dictated a despatch to General 
Price imploring him not to charge the fort again as it 
was murder. Yet, although the ground was already 
strewn with their dead and wounded, on, on, they 
came, never wavering, charging with decimated 
ranks right up to the ditch and drawbridges where 
their color bearer, with his flag unfurled, fell dead, 
his body riddled with bullets. Then it seemed that 
all at once all who were not killed or badly wounded 



1 88 PILOT KNOB 

fled simultaneously, never stopping until they were 
out of danger. 

"While the Johnnies were making that charge, I 
noted in my memory one thing that would appear 
strange to an inexperienced soldier. Although the 
enemy was charging in platoons apparently one hun- 
dred deep, — platoons which were being pierced by 
such an awful storm of hot iron and lead, — hardly 
a man could be seen to fall. The reason was this : 

"When the enemy had come within about a quar- 
ter of a mile of our works, they reached a gradual 
ascent of perhaps fifteen degrees which extended 
the rest of the way to our works. As they came 
up the slope each platoon closed up the gaps from 
right and left that were made in the ranks, and con- 
sequently those who fell were immediately covered 
up and hidden from our view by the oncoming hosts. 
But when they turned and were retreating down the 
slope how different it was! We could see them 
falling everywhere and always face downward, 
their backs then being toward us. It is a fact that 
a man shot and falling with his face from the ob- 
server can always be seen more distinctly than if 
he falls with his face toward the observer. 

"After the repulse the enemy's sharpshooters on 
Shepherd's Mountain, west of our works, kept up 
their fire until it was too dark to see, and our artil- 
lery and small arms were busy as long as any game 
was visible. I saw only three men killed inside the 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 189 

fort; one by a cannon ball that passed through the 
lower part of his abdomen ; another John Tesserau, 
Co. F, Fiftieth Missouri Infantry, I believe, shot 
through the heart a short time before night; and 
poor, brave Carroll Dennis, Co. K, Third M. S. M. 
Cavalry, who, after swabbing a thirty- two pounder 
gun all day, was killed at his gun at last with his 
swab and rammer in his hand. Cornelius O'Shea 
was knocked down by a passing ball or shell and 
thought to be killed. After a short time Sergeant 
Evans looked around, and seeing Cornelius winking 
his eyes, called out, 

"'Are you hurt?' 

" 'Hurt ? H — 1 fire !' answered Cornelius. 'I 
am killed, — killed outright!' 

"After a moment he got up and went to his post 
at his gun. He is living today (1904), so he can 
answer for himself. There was, however, one man 
sitting in the fort after the firing ceased, who had 
been hit in the forehead about the edge of his hair, 
the ball cutting a furrow up toward the crown, 
through which the brains could be seen pulsating 
and oozing out. I do not know to what command 
he belonged, nor do I know whether he died, though 
I suppose he did." 

Though the troops occupying the north rifle-pit 
were not in a position to view the assaults as clearly 
as those stationed in the south rifle-pit and in the 



iqo PILOT KNOB 

fort itself, their fire, partially enfilading Fagan's 
charging lines, undoubtedly did great execution and 
aided materially in repulsing the attacks. Dr. Sam 
B. Rowe, Quartermaster-Sergeant of the Forty- 
seventh Missouri Volunteer Infantry, — and later 
lieutenant and quartermaster of the same regiment, 
— speaks as follows of the incidents in the north 
rifle-pit in which he participated : 

"It was the first time I had been under fire in a 
pitched battle and the usual panoramic review of 
my past life was hurriedly gone through. It was 
about all a man's life was worth to raise his head 
above the breastworks long enough to aim and fire, 
for at the foot of Shepherd's Mountain, — in a 
ravine and behind some stumps of large trees which 
had been felled, — some sharpshooters had taken 
their places and their fire was so deadly that they 
kept one gun, on the angle of the fort nearest them, 
silenced for some time by picking off the gunners. 
The grand charge, led by the Confederate Generals 
Fagan and Cabell, was made on the south side of 
the fort, opposite to where I was; therefore I did 
not participate in their repulse. But during that 
charge I saw an act of bravery on the part of a 
sergeant which was truly admirable. Four horses 
attached to a caisson of the light artillery became 
stampeded and ran from the shelter of the fort out 
into the open where the bullets were flying thick. 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 191 

We saw that the horses would be killed or captured 
but this sergeant leaped out of the rifle-pit, coolly 
ran and caught the lead team by the bits, and led 
them all back in safety behind the fort. 

''During the progress of the battle one particular 
Confederate sharpshooter found a position behind 
the stump of a tree, which forked about three feet 
from the ground, immediately in front of that part 
of the northern rifle-pit where I was stationed. It 
was near the angle of the fort where so many gun- 
ners had been killed around their pieces. A storm- 
ing party had driven most of the sharpshooters 
away, but this man remained, practicing his marks- 
manship chiefly on the gunners. Lieutenant Fess- 
ler, of the artillery, called to us in the rifle-pit to 
keep shooting at the stump. We did so. He then 
loaded the gun with a solid shot and aimed and fired 
it at the stump, striking it near the ground. The 
sharpshooter ran in a straight line from us up the 
hill, and three of us, who had been watching for 
this, fired at him simultaneously. He fell forward 
on a small pile of brush and did not rise. A month 
later, when our regiment had returned to Pilot Knob 
from Rolla, I walked over that part of the field and 
found where we had seen the sharpshooter fall an 
unburied Confederate soldier, his body badly de- 
composed. Behind the stump from which he had 
fired so often were lying nearly a hatful of empty 
shells of about thirty-eight calibre. 



i 9 2 PILOT KNOB 

"I saw one gun, which had been trained on a 
Confederate battery on top of Shepherd's Mountain, 
dismounted from the recoil on account of the eleva- 
tion at which it was aimed. The small end of that 
gun, with my blanket spread over it, served me as 
a pillow for a few hours that night, — hours dur- 
ing which I slept soundly. No other incidents of 
the battle particularly impress my memory, except 
seeing Lieutenant Murphy, our adjutant, on the 
parapet of the fort, cheering the men during the 
enemy's assault on the other side." 

Another soldier, Peter Shrum, of the Forty- 
seventh Missouri, who was in the north rifle-pit, 
says: 

"About one or two o'clock, to the best of my 
recollection, the Confederate cavalry came swarming 
up the valley as if they were going to sweep every- 
thing before them. They charged right up to the 
fort and shouted like all possessed for us to sur- 
render. But did we surrender ? I think not ! Our 
men opened fire on them with the large siege guns 
and the small arms, just mowing them down and 
sending them back faster than they came. From 
where I was all day, — in the north rifle-pit, — I could 
see them as they were coming up the valley and 
retreating down it ; but when they were close to the 
fort the latter hid them from our view. I had had 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 193 

no supper the night before and had been standing 
on post all night so by noon I was beginning to feel 
pretty hungry. A gentleman by the name of Ball, 
who kept a store near the depot, brought us a quan- 
tity of bacon and crackers and divided it among us. 
Twice during the day he came along carrying an 
armload of plug tobacco with which he walked along 
beside the rifle-pit, tossing it to us and saying : 

" 'Divide it out, boys. I had rather you would 
have it than the Rebels/ 

"During the day I saw Adjutant Murphy walk- 
ing around on top of the fort, cheering his men and 
shouting defiance at the enemy, and I said to the 
boys: 

" 'He reminds me of what the Indian said about 
General Washington: "Washington never was 
born to be killed by a bullet, for I have taken good 
aim and fired seventeen fair shots at him with my 
rifle and never touched him !" ' 

"The firing was kept up until late in the evening, 
though about sunset everything seemed quiet. 
Thaddeus C. Mansker, of our company, I, of the 
Forty-seventh Missouri, climbed out of the rifle-pit 
and up on top of the bank and instantly about a half- 
dozen shots were fired at him from the foot of Shep- 
herd's Mountain. He ripped out a big oath and 
called the enemy some hard names. But he jumped 
down in the pit again very quick and fired back at 
them; then shouted out, Til quit! I'll quit!/ 



i 9 4 PILOT KNOB 

"I do not recollect hearing any more firing that 
evening. About dark we were called inside the 
fort, where I saw a dead man lying on the crossing 
of the moat, — the first and only one of our men 
whom I saw that had been killed." 

As has been made evident in some of the fore- 
going narratives, regularly enlisted volunteers and 
militia were not the only ones who participated in 
the gallant defense of Fort Davidson and in the 
fighting around it. Many citizens of the surround- 
ing towns and country also took arms on the ap- 
proach of Price and contributed to the stubborn 
resistance which he encountered. One of these was 
the Reverend D. A. Wilson, who, until December, 
1863, had been Chaplain of the Eighth Regiment, M. 
S. M., but who, at the time of the battle, was pastor 
of the Presbyterian Church of Ironton. He proved 
himself a veritable "fighting parson," and his recol- 
lections of the struggle are interesting, not only be- 
cause they embody the clear observations of a brave 
man in the midst of danger and turmoil, but because 
they disclose elements in the composition of the gar- 
rison of Fort Davidson which are unique. Mr. 
Wilson, on the evening of September 26th, bade 
good-by to his family at their home in Ironton, 
shouldered his shotgun, the only weapon he pos- 
sessed, and rode to Fort Davidson in an ambulance, 
his sole companion being the body of a dead Union 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 195 

soldier, William H. Rector, Co. I, Third M. S. M. 
Cavalry, who had been killed near the Ironton court- 
house. Mr. Wilson writes : 

"Early on the morning of the 27th firing was 
renewed, our men falling back toward the Knob. 
Soon my house was directly between the hostile 
lines and, of course, much exposed. The house 
being frame and presenting but slight resistance to 
even musketry, my wife surrounded a bed with 
mattresses and under it she and the children took 
refuge. Curiosity, however, was stronger than 
fear and now and then they would rush to the win- 
dows to see how the battle was progressing. Be- 
fore eight o'clock the enemy planted a battery on 
the road to the Knob, where a stream crosses it, 
about three hundred yards from the fort. A few 
balls from the battery flew over our heads, doing no 
damage, yet as they passed I found myself greeting 
them with a respectful bow. One of our thirty-two 
pounders, having got the range at its third dis- 
charge, the enemy's battery was silenced and re- 
moved. It was taken round Shepherd's Mountain 
and planted on the north side, a little over the crest, 
in line with the rifle-pit which extended somewhat 
west of south from the fort. The intention, no 
doubt, was to rake the rifle-pit ; but as the guns were 
so much higher their plunging fire did little damage. 
"There was considerable skirmishing, both near 



196 PILOT KNOB 

the Knob and on the mountain, between some small 
parties from the fort and the enemy. It was while 
this was going on that the Reverend Mr. Rowland, 
a Presbyterian minister in Wayne County, near 
Patterson, was wounded slightly in the foot and 
taken prisoner. After being marched before a Con- 
federate colonel, the latter ordered him to take off 
his white shirt, saying that no man should wear a 
better shirt than he. Without shirt or coat, a gunny 
sack was the only covering the minister had for his 
body during the chilly night, while his lodging was 
the damp ground. Made prisoner Tuesday after- 
noon, he had nothing to eat until Wednesday night, 
and then only corn filched from the horses. Friday 
morning, at Potosi, when ordered to march he 
hailed an officer and told him how he had fared. 
Expressing surprise, the latter at once gave orders 
that he and others be taken to the remains of a beef 
which had been slaughtered, and allowed to help 
themselves. At the Osage River he broke down 
and, being unable to go further, a major of the Con- 
federate force gave him a discharge, as if he had 
been one of their number. He found kind treat- 
ment in the home of a hospitable German, who 
entertained him for a week or more until he was 
able to travel and, withal, gave him an overcoat, — 
plain, indeed, but a great treasure to him in his 
nakedness at that season. It was nearly three 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 197 

weeks before he got back to Ironton, making his 
home for a few days at my house. 

"Dismissing this episode, I will resume my nar- 
rative of the fight. It was about mid-afternoon 
when the real battle began. Three brigades from 
different points, — east, south, and southwest, — ad- 
vanced simultaneously on the fort. Only the one 
from the south almost reached it. The engagement 
was sharp, short, and decisive. At long range, 
heavy shot were employed, but as the enemy came 
nearer, grape and canister were substituted. The 
heavy artillery, with some field pieces hastily 
mounted, under the brave and skilful command of 
Colonel Murphy, together with the small arms, 
poured in a stream of lead and iron so deadly that 
the men, heedless of the urging of their officers, 
halted; whereupon a retreat was ordered and the 
heavy firing ceased. The south side of the fort was 
so fully occupied by our men that I had no oppor- 
tunity to use my shot-gun with effect ; and I did not, 
as I saw some do, fire into the air aiming at the 
upper sky. I chanced to meet General Ewing, and 
he said to me : 

" 'Why are you not at the parapet?' 

"The only body of the enemy then in view was 
a brigade of cavalry, some three hundred yards dis- 
tant, making for the railroad north of town. 
Holding out my shotgun, I replied: 



198 PILOT KNOB 

" 'Will this reach them ?' — indicating the enemy. 

"He had nothing more to say; but I went to the 
parapet. 

"Several incidents which occurred during the heat 
of the engagement indelibly impressed themselves 
upon my mind. At the big gun on the east side 
one of the gunners was struck by a cannon ball from 
the battery on Shepherd's Mountain. The roof of 
his skull was blown clear off, yet he was not in- 
stantly killed. Some moments after, ere the soul 
departed, I saw the palpitating brain. On the north 
side, after the repulse, while the crew was loading 
a cannon, the cartridge exploded. Instantly one of 
the men at the gun's mouth was stripped naked as 
when he was born and the next instant his whole 
body was crimson. Poor fellow, how he did 
scream! In a little while his head was swollen to 
a monstrous size. Yet this man recovered. 

"During the fight one of our soldiers, a young 
fellow, was shot in the ankle. It was a painful 
wound. When I saw him he was in the shelter of 
an earthwork and pleading for men to take him to 
the hospital, though to do so would expose them 
to a murderous fire. Yes, yes; it needs more than 
soldier clothes to make a soldier! 

"In contrast with these incidents was another, 
occurring at almost the same time, showing how 
near akin are smiles and tears. One of my elders, 
Mr. Delano, in the hottest of the fight had taken 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 199 

shelter under a caisson with some others. As Gen- 
eral Ewing was passing by he saw them and said 
harshly : 

" 'What are you doing here ?' 

"Quick as thought, Delano replied : 'We are sup- 
porting the artillery!' 

"There was some desultory firing after the re- 
pulse. Some sharpshooters lying in the shelter of 
the banks of the stream, south and west of the fort, 
and some still further away in the open continued 
blazing away for some time. A citizen by the name 
of Mason, as I afterward learned, — who some years 
later became Judge of the County Court, — was tak- 
ing deliberate aim with his squirrel rifle when a ball 
cut through the rather abundant flesh of his throat, 
and the blood spurted out in a stream apparently as 
large as the orifice made by the bullet. His chief 
concern seemed to be to save his white shirt, for he 
leaned over and still over until he was actually on 
all fours. At the rate the blood was flowing he 
must have bled to death in a minute. Seeing his 
critical case, I went to him and said : 

" 'My man, you must hold up your head.' 

"I raised him up and led him behind an earth- 
work. Laying him there with his head raised, I 
tied my red silk handkerchief round his neck. As 
the bleeding was stanched I saw no more of him 
until, going to the hospital about nine o'clock that 
night, the first man I recognized was he, wearing 



200 PILOT KNOB 

my handkerchief and ministering' to others worse 
wounded than himself. 

"Some time after nightfall, I heard General 
Ewing say : 

" 'There should be a party sent out to gather 
arms.' 

"I at once proposed to several of my parishioners 
that we go out. I brought in two loads, — fourteen 
muskets in all. The morning had been rainy. 
After noon the sun came out and it was warm. In 
making the charge, the men had thrown off their 
coats and when night came they were chilled, lying 
on the damp ground. To lessen the cold the 
wounded men had crawled together in piles, like 
pigs. When on the battle ground I met the hospital 
steward and Captain Zwart, of the Provost Mar- 
shal's office at Ironton, who were busy taking 
wounded men, — friends or foes, — to the hospital. 
The large hotel at the Knob had been taken for that 
purpose. Its lower floor was already covered with 
wounded men, laid on the bare boards. Going 
from one to another, I found one man unable to 
speak. I soon discovered that he had been shot in 
the face, that the lower jaw had been broken, and 
the end of his tongue cut off, the ball having passed 
out through the left cheek. Finding his mouth 
filled with clotted blood, I took out a handful, when, 
in deep, guttural tones he cried : 

"'Water! Water!' 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 201 

"When brought, it was greedily drunk. But 
while this gave relief, it again started the bleeding, 
requiring that his mouth be cleared a second time. 
Weeks afterward I met the man in Ironton. 
Greeting him, I said : 

" 'Well, I suppose you have had enough of 
fighting ?' 

" 'No,' he replied. T'd fight 'em ag'in.' 

"It was only then that I found he was a Union 
man from the country, like myself, a volunteer for 
the nonce." 

In the midst of the assault on the south and east 
faces of the fort, a Confederate cavalry force 
charged into the town of Pilot Knob from the west, 
creating some confusion in the Union rear. Of 
this charge Colonel Fletcher speaks as follows: 

"We had put our infantry into the trenches out- 
side the fort, Maupin taking command of the force 
on the south side, and I taking the other side and 
supporting two field-pieces outside the fort. Just 
as the enemy's main assault was repulsed General 
Ewing, — fearing that we could not hold the 
trenches against a cavalry force led by Colonel 
Alonzo W. Slayback, which came around Shepherd's 
Mountain and dashed toward us from the west, — or- 
dered us into the fort and through the sally-port and 
moat, so up over the parapets we clambered. When 



202 PILOT KNOB 

we turned our artillery on the cavalry force of Slay- 
back it swung around to the northward along the 
base of Cedar Mountain. Meanwhile the assault- 
ing force had risen up again and made one more 
desperate dash at the fort, and though broken by 
our terrific musketry, still came on, — on up to 
within twenty yards of the moat, then fell away like 
the receding wave on an ocean's beach. Meanwhile 
the enemy had taken a battery up to Shepherd's 
Mountain and in two or three shots got the range 
of the fort, exploding a shell which in turn exploded 
a caisson, killing or badly wounding five of our 
men." 

To this account, Col. David Murphy adds the 
following details : 

"While preparations were being made for the last 
assault, Colonel Slayback had been ordered to pass 
around the Knob, capture the town, and make a 
demonstration in our rear so as to cut off the line 
of retreat. This movement was successful. The 
town was captured, and the Confederate cavalry 
passed on around the base of Cedar Mountain and 
threatened the force occupying the rifle-pit and the 
field artillery covering its terminus. It seems that 
this demonstration created a panic in the ranks of 
the artillery detachment; for it was soon observed 
that just opposite the sally-port of the fort an aban- 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 203 

doned six-horse team, attached to a field-gun, was 
in mad flight and was dashing down in the direction 
of Ironton. If this flight had continued the piece 
would have been carried into the ranks of the enemy. 
"In later years I received from the son of Gen- 
eral Ewing an inquiry as to who were the men that 
saved the piece. I answered by referring him to 
Colonel Fletcher, then living at Washington, D. C, 
and at the same time I wrote to Colonel Fletcher, 
telling him that I had referred the writer to him for 
information. The following letter, giving an ac- 
count of this episode in the battle, ought to dispose 
of all questions as to the facts in the case : 

" 'Washington, D. C, April 18, 1896. 
"'My dear Colonel: Yours of the 16th inst. is at hand. 
Certainly I recollect, as though it occurred yesterday, that day 
at Pilot Knob, and the fact of the horses of one of the pieces 
of Montgomery's battery, stationed near the church at the end 
of our ditch, becoming frightened, breaking away and dashing 
down our line. I was out in the ditch at the time and Gen- 
eral Ewing was up on the parapet of the fort ordering me 
and everybody on our side of the fort to catch them, when 
you appeared on the scene and arrested the flight of the horses 
and got on one of them and took the horses and the piece of 
artillery to the fort. It was a very daring act and few men 
could have accomplished it, even if they had been willing to 
take the risk. It was to me a very exciting incident and I 
once wrote of it, and my description of it was published in 
some newspaper about the latter part of 1864. 
" 'Yours truly, 

"Thos. C. Fletcher. 
"'Col. David Murphy, 

St. Louis, Mo.' w 



204 PILOT KNOB 

The fact appears to be that both guns and both 
caissons of Lieutenant Simonton's section of Mont- 
gomery's battery were stampeded north of the fort 
and, rushing down toward the enemy's lines, were 
stopped and brought back safely by various men, 
who all displayed great courage in so exposing 
themselves. The teams attached to one of the guns 
were evidently stopped by Colonel Murphy, while 
those attached to one of the caissons were halted by 
Sergt. William A. Bucher, Co. D, Fourteenth Iowa. 
Capt. William C. F. Montgomery, commanding 
Battery H, Second Missouri Light Artillery, ac- 
counts for another of the guns in his official report 
of the battle, 3 in which he says that when the enemy 
began the charge : 

"Lieutenant Simonton opened fire on their lines 
advancing from the side of Shepherd's Mountain, 
scattering and breaking their lines successively, 
while the four guns inside did excellent firing with 
shell until the rebels charged within one hundred 
and fifty yards. We then used canister, double 
charge. The enemy's lines came within thirty paces 
of the fort. Lieutenant Simonton held his position, 
doing excellent service, until the enemy were within 
sixty yards of the fort. lie was then ordered in- 
side. Just as the lead team of the right piece 

3 "Official Records, War of the Rebellion," Series I, Vol. 
XLI, Part I, Page 459. 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 205 

reached the gate the two lead horses were shot 
down, the driver was wounded and the piece blocked 
up the gap so that it was impossible to get the sec- 
tion inside. Lieutenant Simonton ordered all the 
men to take care of themselves. The men all came 
in except one, who was captured. The horses were 
beginning to stampede, when I ordered the men to 
shoot the horses with their revolvers. The animals 
were soon disabled so that they could not take any 
gun carriages away. These men then used their 
pistols and muskets until the battle was nearly over, 
when they cut the horses loose and brought in some 
of the guns and some of the horses. During the 
charge I lost, in killed, one sergeant, Isaiah B. West, 
and three privates, E. F. Hall, James M. Lee, and 
William F. Lee. We had three men accidentally 
burned and three wounded, but none of them 
seriously; all will soon recover. At sunset the 
firing ceased and the wounded were taken to the 
hospital and the dead properly cared for. During 
the engagement I lost forty horses killed and 
wounded." 

Lieut. J. A. Rice, Co. L, Second M. S. M. Cavalry, 
who, with some men of his company, was cut off by 
the Confederates on Pilot Knob Mountain, later 
encountered Colonel Slayback's advance on the rail- 
road north of Pilot Knob. Of their experiences 
Lieutenant Rice says: 



206 PILOT KNOB 

'The enemy cut me off and swung around Major 
Wilson, driving me down into the valley by the 
furnace and near the stock-pen. I and three of my 
company, who were captured, remained prisoners 
but a short time. A crowd of the enemy's soldiers 
was around us when a mounted officer came and 
ordered them to follow him and charge the fort. 
The men who had us in charge ordered us not to 
move but to remain where we were until they re- 
turned for us. Of course I promised anything just 
then. They had gotten fifty yards away when we 
ran for the stock-pen and made our escape, getting 
to our horses northeast of the fort. Here I found 
Lieutenant Smith and about fifteen men of my com- 
pany. While we were wondering what to do, about 
one hundred cavalry came charging toward us 
north of the hospital. We made for the culvert on 
the railroad and there checked them for a moment, 
but they soon started us on the run. Here I had 
one man and one horse slightly wounded. 

"We soon caught up with about seventy-five 
soldiers and citizens accompanying thirteen large 
Government wagons, loaded with women and chil- 
dren. A more badly panic-stricken lot of people I 
have never seen. The enemy came up, fired on the 
crowd, and killed one teamster, William Madkins, 
Co. F, Forty-seventh Missouri Infantry. I finally 
succeeded in getting ahead of the fugitives with the 
assistance of Lieutenant Smith and a few soldiers. 



THE CONFEDERATES CLOSE IN 207 

I stopped the remainder of the soldiers and formed 
a line, and when the enemy reached us we gave them 
the best we had. This checked them. They fol- 
lowed us beyond Middlebrook, three miles from 
Pilot Knob, then gave up the chase. 

"We continued up the railroad, arriving near 
Irondale about one hour after dark. Here I 
halted, undecided what to do. A citizen named 
Price volunteered to go into Irondale and find out 
if it would be safe for us to venture further. After 
being away for about an hour, he returned and 
informed me that a whole brigade of the enemy was 
passing through the town. I then concluded that 
we should make our way to De Soto, if possible. I 
had all the mules cut loose from the wagons, and 
the men, armed as well as possible, mounted them; 
and we started out through the woods and over the 
hills, avoiding all public roads. We marched until 
about two o'clock in the morning when, having 
become completely exhausted, we halted in a low 
place and everybody except myself was soon asleep. 
Before long I heard what seemed to be a large force 
of cavalry coming toward us. They passed by so 
near me that I could see their forms and hear their 
voices. After they were out of hearing, I called 
up my men and we started again, for we were within 
one hundred yards of a road. 

"We marched all of that day with but little 
trouble, W? arrived in De Soto that evening at 



2o8 PILOT KNOB 

about four o'clock. When I reported to Gen. A. J. 
Smith, the latter caused us to be furnished with 
food for men and horses. We had then gone for 
three days and nights without tasting food." 



NIGHT ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 

Ouartermaster-Sergt. Sam B. Rowe, Forty- 
seventh Missouri; James W. Nations, Co. F, Fif- 
tieth Missouri, and Col. Thomas C. Fletcher, Forty- 
seventh Missouri, vividly describe the scene as dark- 
ness fell over the battlefield and the ambulances and 
stretcher-bearers went forth on their sad duty of 
rescuing the wounded. Says Doctor Rowe: 

"After darkness had set in, and the firing had 
ceased, and it seemed to be taken for granted 
that it would not be resumed that night, I walked 
out over the field south of the fort which the 
enemy had crossed in his charge. I had seen 
pictures and read descriptions of the carnage of 
a battlefield, none of which surpassed what I saw 
there. Ambulances with lanterns were driving 
hither and thither, taking up the wounded, and 
the men who accompanied the ambulances had to 
drag the dead away to avoid having the ambulances 
run over them. That was the sight I saw, extend- 
ing from the edge of the ditch that surrounded the 
fort to a distance of three hundred yards in the di- 
rection of Ironton and over a space nearly a hundred 
yards wide. Since the war I have frequently talked 

209 



210 PILOT KNOB 

with Maj. William C. Kelley, and with Captain 
Peck, who were engaged in the battle on the Con- 
federate side, and they admitted a loss of fifteen 
hundred killed and wounded in the battle." 

Mr. Nations says: 

"Night came on, all firing ceased and everything 
seemed as still as death. The contrast between the 
silence and the turmoil of the day just passed was 
so great as to be almost painful. We now had time 
for serious reflection. Dead men were at hand; 
almost at my feet was a large mass of coagulated 
blood, doubtless from a brave gunner. Everybody 
and everything, it seemed to me, exhibited an aspect 
of sadness and melancholy, — a reaction from the ex- 
citement of the day. The iron furnace was burning 
brightly, and although it was probably a quarter of 
a mile away, it 'gave proof through the night that 
our flag was still there.' Shortly after night I hap- 
pened to notice a meeting between General Ewing 
and Colonel Fletcher. 

"The General said : 

"'Have you any suggestions to make?' 

" T believe not,' Colonel Fletcher replied ; and 
they passed on. 

"We then laid ourselves down and forgot every- 
thing while we slept and rested our weary limbs for 
a few hours." 



NIGHT ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 211 

After the repulse, says Captain Campbell, of the 
Fourteenth Iowa, 

"General Ewing instructed me to separate my 
command from the other troops, as we had become 
mixed up during the fight, and told me to move them 
to the west side of the works and give them a chance 
to cool off. After we had changed our position and 
stacked arms the men were ordered to break ranks 
and rest. General Ewing soon after came to me 
and asked : 

" 'Captain, what do you call this, — a big battle or 
not ? I have been in three or four small skirmishes 
and in three or four big political fights. That has 
been the extent of my fighting. But you have been 
on several hard-fought battlefields.' 

" 'General,' I replied, 'taking into account the 
small force on our side and the immense odds 
against us, this is the hottest battle I was ever in.' 

"He expressed pleasure at my reply and explained 
that as he had been assigned as Post Commander at 
St. Louis, he had seen but little field service. This 
frank acknowledgment, coming from General 
Ewing himself to one of his subordinate officers, 
showed a generous and brave spirit in the man, and 
it raised him higher in my estimation as the gallant 
gentleman he proved himself to be. 

"While I was in conversation with General Ewing, 
one of my corporals came and asked my permission 



212 PILOT KNOB 

to fire off his musket so that he might wipe it out. 
I granted his request ; and he then said : 

" 'Shall I fire it toward the enemy?' 

" 'No/ I replied, 'fire up in the air. The enemy 
might return the fire and bring on another engage- 
ment.' 

"He did as I told him, and was called a coward 
by a lieutenant of militia, who further remarked : 

" 'There are no rebels up in the sky, you d — n 
fool.' 

"Sergeant Bucher, who commanded Co. D, 
Fourteenth Iowa, after Lieutenant Thompson was 
wounded, pulled out his revolver and demanded of 
the militia officer that he withdraw his remarks or 
be killed. I went over to them and asked what was 
the trouble. On being informed, I told the lieu- 
tenant that the corporal was obeying my orders, 
and that neither he nor anyone else could call my 
men cowards. General Ewing then came up and 
told the lieutenant that if he made any more such 
remarks he would be placed under arrest ; then, turn- 
ing to the men in the fort, his cap in his hand, he 
went on : 

" 'I want it distinctly understood that this battal- 
ion of the Fourteenth Iowa saved this work.' 

"Thereupon I called my men to attention and 
cried : 

'"Three cheers for General Ewing!' 

"The cheers were given with a hearty good-will ; 



NIGHT ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 213 

after which General Ewing ordered me to take 
charge of the works, post sentries, lower away the 
gate, assist the surgeons and their attendants in car- 
ing for the wounded, and pass them through the 
gate to the hospital located in the town, and to allow 
no one to pass in or out without my permission. 

"We had forty or fifty wounded inside the fort. 
One of the surgeons, returning from the hospital 
for more wounded, told me he had talked with a 
Confederate officer, who had said to him: 

" ' "You have punished us severely; we have lost 
fifteen hundred killed and wounded this afternoon. 
But we are making three hundred scaling ladders 
and will go over your works after daylight." 

"Private Reeder, of Co. D, asked my permission 
to pass outside the fort and look for trophies. I 
said to him: 

" 'Do you intend molesting the dead or wounded ? 
If you have any such idea as that in mind, I would 
not let you out on any account.' 

"He gave me his word of honor not to abuse the 
privilege and I passed him out. In a short time he 
returned with a Confederate flag which he had 
picked up outside the works. The flag consisted of 
a blue field and seven cross stars, with three bars, 
red, white and red. It bore no name to designate 
its regiment. Reeder handed it to me, saying: 

" 'Captain, I will present this to you.' 

"I accepted it, after inquiring whether he did not 



214 PILOT KNOB 

wish to retain it himself. Its loss plainly indicated 
that the Confederates had been roughly handled in 
the fight." 

Colonel Fletcher relates : 

"When the final desperate charge had been fully 
repulsed, the last ray of the setting sun had faded 
from the mountain top and the evening shadows 
were beginning to fall in the valley. The firing 
ceased ; not a shot was heard ; the silence was broken 
only by the groans of the wounded who lay every- 
where on the field. The enemy was scattered in the 
gullies, ravines, and behind logs, — in every place of 
concealment, — waiting the coining of darkness to 
cover their retreat. Murphy was still full of fight 
and feeling glorious over success ; so he mounted the 
redoubt and proceeded to address the audience in 
our front as it lay in concealment, daring and defy- 
ing them to come on, and, in a voice so loud that it 
woke the echoes of the mountains, reflecting upon 
their courage and parentage. Out of admiration 
for his daring they refused to shoot him, as they 
easily could have done. Night came on, Surgeon 
Carpenter organized his corps of assistants, among 
whom was Dr. James R. McCormick, and we pro- 
ceeded to care as best we could for the wounded; 
both our own and the Confederates who were left 
on the field near the fort. The dead were left where 



NIGHT ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 215 

they fell. The Confederate killed and wounded, as 
the count was subsequently given to me by persons 
who made it, numbered 1,468, and long- after the 
battle a number of bodies that had not been included 
in the count, were found on the mountain sides. 
Our loss in killed and wounded up to that time had 
been: twenty-two killed and mortally wounded, 
forty wounded, and sixty-seven missing, — the latter 
having been made prisoners, for the greater part." 

Colonel Murphy gives a touching incident which 
occurred after the fight ended. 

" 'Captain Jim,' as we called the leader of the 
colored contingent in the fort," says Col. Murphy, 
"was stretched upon his back near the sally-port. 
Observing this I spoke to him, urging him to pre- 
pare for a retreat as we had accomplished all that 
was to be done. He replied : 

" 'Major, I'm done for; there will be no retreat 
for me. I'm shot through my groin. But, Major, 
I die contented when I look up at the peak of that 
staff and see that glorious flag still floating, waving 
its answer to the cheers of victory. I am willing 
to die, knowing that I was one of its defenders.' 

"I told him that he should not die, — that he 
should live to enjoy the fruits of our glorious vic- 
tory; and without further delay I walked across the 
plain to the town of Pilot Knob, where was located 



216 PILOT KNOB 

the hospital in charge of Dr. Seymour D. Carpenter, 
U. S. V. I told him of the disability of 'Captain 
Jim,' and I was furnished with a stretcher and a man 
to assist and direct his removal from the fort to the 
hospital. We lifted 'Juri' gently and carefully. I 
carried one end of the stretcher to the hospital, and 
there Dr. Carpenter promised me that he would use 
all his skill to save the life of the brave negro." 



THE EVACUATION 

Colonel Fletcher tells of the council of war at 
which it was decided by General Ewing and his 
principal officers to take the desperate hazard of 
attempting to cut a way through Price's encircling 
army rather than to surrender. He writes: 

"We consulted together as to what we would do : 
Ewing, Maupin, Murphy, John W. Emerson and 
also Ewing's staff-officers, Capt. Charles S. Hills 
and Maj. H. H. Williams, of the Tenth Kansas 
Volunteers. The two latter officers were good 
soldiers and men of excellent judgment, and they 
stood deservedly high in the confidence of General 
Ewing. We knew that the severe loss we had in- 
flicted on the enemy would be avenged if we re- 
mained till the next day; we knew that General 
Mower was somewhere in Price's rear but we did 
not know where or when he would reach us, if at all ; 
we knew that A. J. Smith was almost within hearing 
of our artillery, and we felt that if we had one 
division of his veteran corps then and there to sally 
out upon the enemy in his demoralized condition, 
we could drive the latter back to Arkansas. But 
we also knew that General Rosecrans would not 

217 



218 PILOT KNOB 

send Smith to our assistance for fear of uncovering 
St. Louis. Here we were, completely surrounded 
with an overwhelming force, without hope of re- 
enforcement or succor. It was plain that we could 
not stay there and very nearly as plain that we could 
not get away. Our only course was conceded to be 
that we must make the effort to escape and take the 
chances. All around us were the camp-fires of the 
enemy ; our sole chance was to cut our way through 
his lines. This we resolved to do. 

"While we were making our preparations for the 
desperate sally a woman came to us bearing a mes- 
sage from Col. Alonzo Slayback, a Confederate 
officer, — and a kind-hearted and noble man, as many 
of us learned to know him afterward, — advising 
us to make terms and surrender as we could not 
withstand the force that would be brought against 
us in the morning. He sent this message unoffi- 
cially and as our friend; he had personal friends 
among us, Ewing being one of them. We thanked 
him through the same messenger and informed him 
that we had determined to fight it out. 

"Our preparations being completed, I led my regi- 
ment out, having selected one hundred men who had 
seen most service, and putting Captain McMurtry, 
of Co. A, in command for the advance. At the 
furnace, only a few hundred yards from the fort, 
there was a pile of charcoal as large as the Lindell 
Hotel in St. Louis, said to have been worth 



THE EVACUATION 219 

$80,000.00. It had become ignited by the explosion 
of shells during the fight and then had stood there, — 
a vast, white coal of fire, lighting up the whole val- 
ley. This annoyed us greatly. Quietly getting my 
infantry formed by companies, we moved about one 
o'clock in the morning through the sally-port into 
the moat and thence out by the entrenchment on the 
north side of the fort, forming our line in the 
shadow of the church. Tents and straw were 
placed on the drawbridge to deaden the sound of the 
artillery passing over it. The artillery followed the 
infantry, and the cavalry brought up the rear. 
Montgomery commanded his artillery and Capt. P. 
L. Powers, Co. H, Forty-seventh Missouri Infantry, 
commanded the rear-guard of mounted men. 

"It was a solemn hour. A night attack is always 
fraught with dangers and horror exaggerated by 
the imagination because unseen ; and to my mind the 
situation was more terrible because we did not know 
whether we would strike the enemy where his line 
was weakest or strongest. In low tones the com- 
mands were given and repeated along our line, and 
we went forward in column by twos, route step, 
arms at will, taking the Caledonia road. On we 
went, every ear intent to catch the word of 'forward 
into line' for a charge! Still we went on, unchal- 
lenged. On either side of the road the enemy lay 
about his camp-fires ; pickets and sentries stood idly 
by the fires not twenty rods from our path, mistak- 



220 PILOT KNOB 

ing us, no doubt, for a body of their own force 
moving into position. They gave no evidence what- 
ever of seeing or hearing us. 

"We had left in the magazine at the fort about 
twenty tons of powder and a large quantity of fixed 
ammunition. General Ewing detailed Sergt. Daniel 
Flood, 1 of the Third M. S. M. Cavalry, to apply a 
slow match to it. When we had gone about a mile 
outside the enemy's lines, suddenly the heavens were 
lighted up by a grand column of fire ascending hun- 
dreds of feet above the mountain tops and making 
the whole region to reverberate with a sound as 
though a mighty thunderbolt had riven Pilot Knob 
from its base to its peak. General Price himself 
told me after the war was over, as did also Col. Wil- 
liam Lawson, — at whose house in Arcadia Price 
made his headquarters, — that he did not know until 
eight o'clock next morning that we had evacuated 
and blown up the fort. His men had spent a great 
part of the night in making scaling-ladders with 
which to scale the parapets of the fort the next 
morning, and when our magazine exploded they 
thought it had been an accident, and that those of 
us who had not been killed would at once surrender 
in the morning." 

1 See account, following, of the explosion of the magazine, 
written by Captain H. B. Milks, in which he states that the 
match was applied by Sergeant W. H. Moore, Co. H 1 , Third 
M. S. M. Cavalry. 



THE EVACUATION 221 

Peter Shrum, Co. I, Forty-seventh Missouri Vol- 
unteers, tells of his awakening in the small hours of 
the night to join the retreat. He says : 

"From the way we had kept them off all day long 
I felt no fear but what we could hold the place in 
spite of them. But when we got in the fort it was 
dark ; and it was some time before I found my com- 
pany and while I was hunting for them I happened 
to come upon the officers consulting on what to do 
and whether to evacuate that night or wait until 
morning and surrender. When I heard them say 
there were only a few rounds of ammunition for the 
large guns I began to think it might be a doubtful 
case. When I found my company I lay down to 
take a little rest. Some time during the night, — 
I suppose, about one o'clock, — Captain Bradley 
woke us up and told us to get ready to move. The 
teams were harnessed up, the artillery wheels were 
muffled, the gates were opened and blankets were 
spread on the crossing, and the guns were driven 
out. Captain Bradley led his men out into the moat, 
then up the rifle-pit to its north end, then took the 
Caledonia road, and marched on without ever 
being halted by a picket or encountering any other 
obstacle. As we went up the valley we could see 
numerous camp-fires on each side of the road; but 
everything was quiet. When we had gone what I 
suppose to have been about three miles, we heard the 



222 PILOT KNOB 

magazine blow up. It made a report that beat 
almost any other I had heard through the day." 

Sergt.-Maj. Lewis W. Sutton, of the Fourteenth 
Iowa, says : 

"Soon after the battle General Ewing called a 
council of his officers. Some of them thought it 
would be a useless sacrifice of life to renew the bat- 
tle the next morning and were in favor of surrender- 
ing. But Captain Campbell refused to surrender 
and proposed to fight, if he had none to help him 
but the few men of his own regiment. When the 
General heard the sentiments of his officers as to 
the best policy to pursue and considered the fact that 
the ammunition was nearly gone, he was left with 
but one alternative; evacuation. But who could 
foretell the result? Perhaps the enemy was watch- 
ing the movements in the fort and would be ready 
to meet us before all the command could reach open 
ground. When the council ended it was after mid- 
night and no time was to be lost. Orders were given 
to prepare for a march. Dr. Carpenter and nurses 
were left to care for the wounded. The men were 
told to take what hardtack they could, while Captain 
Campbell saw that each man had a hundred rounds 
of ammunition. The artillerymen made ready their 
guns on muffled wheels and the arrangements were 
complete. General Ewing assigned to the Four- 



THE EVACUATION 223 

teenth Iowa the first position in the column and the 
honor of leading the way. Captain Campbell gave 
strict orders to keep in ranks and well did his men 
understand the situation. The guide led the little 
army out on a by-road which the enemy had failed 
to picket. Their camp-fires were seen near by and 
the sentries in their camps, pacing their beats, but 
they knew not who were going by. If Captain 
Campbell had met the enemy he intended to charge 
and go through any force he might meet. He was 
looking for the enemy but they were not expecting 
him. About four o'clock on the morning of the 
28th the magazine in the fort blew up with a great 
explosion, shaking the mountains for miles around 
and awakening the sleeping enemy in surprise. 

"Just after daylight, the General stopped at a 
house beside the road and inquired of an old lady 
at the door whether she had seen any troops pass 
by during the last day or two. She answered : 

" 'No.' Then she added, T guess you had a big 
battle yesterday. I could hear the shooting all day, 
but that big gun you shot off this morning was 
louder than all the rest.' 

"The cavalry advance guard had orders to keep 
within sight of the column and if they should meet 
the enemy to fire and charge upon him with a yell 
in the hope of surprising and driving him." 

Capt. H. B. Milks, Co. H, Third M. S. M. Cav- 



224 PILOT KNOB 

airy, was in command of the detail left to explode 
the magazine. He says: 

"About nine o'clock p. m., a council of war was 
convened. The question was : Should we surrender 
or evacuate ? According to army regulations votes 
were deposited by rank or date of commission. Be- 
ing the junior officer present, my name was first 
called. I voted 'evacuate,' and the result was 'evac- 
uate,' by a majority of one. The ballot was secret. 
All the M. S. M. officers were elated. An order 
was then issued that absolute silence must prevail, 
and our movements be kept secret. At that time at 
a short distance from the fort the iron works and 
a large pile of charcoal were on fire, and the flames 
lit up the whole valley as bright as day. Every mo- 
ment a charge was expected. About ten p. m. the 
General sent for me. He was alone in his tent, and 
he whispered in my ear, as nearly as I can remember 
his words : 

" 'The command will evacuate at twelve o'clock. 
You will detail a lieutenant and twenty men to re- 
main as guard till one o'clock. You will see that 
the magazine is blown up or destroyed, and you will 
report in person as soon after as possible.' 

"The command moved out on time. Lieutenant 
Copp, Sergt. W. H. Moore, of my company, and I 
went down into the magazine, knocked open powder 
kegs, and made a pile of powder as large as a hay- 



THE EVACUATION 225 

cock in the center of the magazine. The room was 
forty feet long, twelve feet high, and twelve feet 
wide. A section through the center was filled from 
bottom to top with kegs of powder and fixed am- 
munition. No fuse being at hand, a trail was laid 
from the pile of powder out over the drawbridge. 
It was then twenty minutes before one. I ordered 
my men to look around and see if any stray soldiers 
were still asleep in the fort. Five were found, and 
it took shaking and some kicking to arouse them. 
Over the magazine the earth was piled fifteen feet 
deep, and on it had been laid a dozen corpses robed 
only in the uniform of the United States. We won- 
dered what could be done with these dead comrades. 
There was no time to bury them as we had only 
about five minutes left. Finally we placed them in 
a row close together on the east side of the magazine 
and about twelve feet from it. Someone said : 

' 'When the thing goes up they will be buried 
with the honors of war, and the rebs won't get their 
clothes.' 2 

"Sergeant W. H. Moore had taken charge of lay- 
ing the trail, and he said to me after we had waited 
for a time: 

2 The caissons of Montgomery's battery, with one hundred 
rounds of ammunition in them, were also drawn close to the 
magazine, where they would probably be destroyed, and left 
there. The six guns of the battery, with limber chests full 
of ammunition, were taken with the retreating column. 



226 PILOT KNOB 

" 'I will go down in the magazine again and see 
if the trail is all right down the steps.' 

Lieutenant Hendricks, Lieutenant Copp and I, 
with twenty men, stood, mounted, outside the fort 
about seventy-five feet from the magazine, waiting 
for Moore to come and set off the trail. Our time 
was up and still all remained as silent as death. 
Not a loud word had been uttered ; but at last I ex- 
claimed, with some impatience : 

" 'Hurry up, Moore ! Come and set off the trail.' 

"Then the fellow slowly emerged from the 
entrance to the magazine, motioning backwards over 
his shoulder with his thumb, and said, 

" 'We don't need a trail. There's plenty of fire 
back here!' 

"In an instant, a flame flashed from the entrance. 
Every man set spurs to his horse and we had only 
galloped about seventy-five yards when the ex- 
plosion took place and the heavens were illumined 
with bursting shells. In the early dawn of the 28th 
I reported to General Ewing, meeting him in his 
saddle about one mile east of Caledonia. After a 
hearty handshake he said : 

" 'You will act as chief of cavalry. It will not 
be practicable to try to make St. Louis as intended. 
We will attempt now to make Rolla. The artillery 
will remain in advance. Keep the command closed 
up and maintain a strong rear-guard." 



THE EVACUATION 227 

Sergt. J. A. Shields, Co. M, Third M. S. M. Cav- 
alry, acted as guide to the column on the retreat 
from Pilot Knob to Caledonia and beyond. Ser- 
geant Shields says : 

"Supposing that Gen. A. J. Smith was still at 
Mineral Point, — where he had been when the last 
telegraphic communication was held with him, — 
Mineral Point, of course, became our objective. 
The General detailed Capt. Hiram A. Rice with 
twenty men to take the advance. As they were un- 
acquainted with the road from Pilot Knob to Min- 
eral Point, the General called for a guide. No one 
present volunteered, so Captain Lonergan, who was 
then Provost Marshal at the Knob, hunted me up 
and told me that General Ewing wanted a guide to 
go with the advance guard on the Caledonia road. 
I told him that I would go, and at once reported to 
General Ewing and offered my services. It was 
very dark and raining a little. I took the lead and 
rode until daylight, with my revolver in my hand, 
ready to fire on hearing the word 'halt!' But for- 
tunately, — I may say, providentially, — the enemy 
had failed to place a picket on the Caledonia road; 
and we went out unmolested. When about three 
miles out the magazine was blown up." 



IN THE WAKE OF CONFLICT 

Battle-torn Pilot Knob and the towns of the smil- 
ing and peaceful Arcadia Valley were now definitely 
abandoned to the invaders. We have read much 
of the men, both soldiers and citizens, who had 
battled so nobly in defense of the homes and ham- 
lets of that region. But what had been the experi- 
ences of the non-combatants, the women and chil- 
dren, who inhabited those homes during the days 
when the waves of warfare surged about their 
thresholds, and what befell them after the contend- 
ing armies had rolled on northward, leaving behind 
only the pitiful wreckage of battle? In the pages 
of history the anxieties and sufferings of such help- 
less victims of circumstances are usually completely 
lost sight of amid the more thrilling narratives of 
struggling armies. But fortunately we have pre- 
served for us, in the case of the battle of Pilot Knob, 
a very touching and accurate account of conditions 
among the non-combatants of Ironton and Arcadia 
after the occupation of those villages by the Con- 
federates. It is written by Mrs. C. J. Pitkin, a 
noble woman who passed through all those trying 
days, and it deserves a place in its entirety in this 
composite chronicle of the battle of Pilot Knob, 
Mrs. Pitkin writes : 

228 



IN THE WAKE OF CONFLICT 229 

"I had been teaching a small school in southeast 
Missouri during the summer of 1864. The term 
had expired, and I was enjoying the little time which 
remained before going to Illinois to visit my sister, 
Mrs. Cyrus Russell, and her family. Reports had 
come to us from time to time that the Confederates 
were about to make a raid upon Arcadia Valley, 
but we jeered at the idea of their visiting a place 
so well fortified as Pilot Knob. Time passed on 
until the Sabbath, September 25th. My sister, her 
husband, Cyrus Russell, and two children went to 
church as usual, — quite a distance, — leaving me in 
charge with the baby, a little girl of two summers. 

"Very quiet and beautiful the day seemed and, 
becoming tired of the monotony, I began to look for 
the return of the carriage, when, like a clap of thun- 
der, came the boom of cannon. Such a sound 
would have startled me at any time, but on this 
sacred day it was fearful. I ran to the gate with 
little Sarah, who looked into my face doubtfully, 
but I could see nothing, not even the pickets who 
were stationed but a few rods up the road. It was 
not long, however, before the family returned, and 
I ran to meet my sister, whose pale and anxious 
face told more plainly than words that danger was 
near. She hurriedly informed me that the enemy 
was within nine miles of us. Every citizen was or- 
dered to the front, two miles distant. Julius Dica- 
hagan, the orphan boy, put the horses in the stable. 



230 PILOT KNOB 

while Mr. Russell, after giving us a hearty good- 
by, mounted his horse and, with a gun and a 
blanket-shawl, rode away. 

"Then we began to realize our situation, — alone, 
without protection. But there was no time to lose. 
We must in some way secure our valuables. We 
hastily gathered watches, silver, and other articles 
of value, and putting them in a box, locked and 
placed it in an old Dutch oven down cellar where 
were already six boxes of delicious honey, taken up 
only a day or two before. After filling up the open- 
ing with pieces of stove-pipe, old rubbish, etc., we 
ascended the stairs and, gathering the children about 
us, sat down in silence to await our fate. What a 
time of suspense it was! Hour after hour passed, 
and still we were not disturbed. Near sundown 
Mr. Russell came home with the cheering informa- 
tion that it was all a farce. The fact was that our 
scouts, coming in from a reconnoissance, had fired 
upon the pickets to see if they knew their duty and 
would prove faithful. And so faithful were they 
that in a very short time everything was made ready 
for battle. We retired to rest in peace; but the 
shock we had received was sufficient to disturb our 
dreams. 

"The day following we went about our accus- 
tomed duties and, it being Monday, we washed, as 
do all good housekeepers on that day. After din- 
ner, our work over, we dressed for the afternoon 



IN THE WAKE OF CONFLICT 231 

and, with light hearts, sat with our sewing in the 
cool sitting-room, giving now and then a glance of 
satisfaction at the well- washed linen on the line and 
laughing over our fright of the day before. The 
children had asked and obtained permission to go 
over to Uncle William's to play with their cousins. 
Mr. Russell was making sorghum molasses in the 
back yard. 

"At two o'clock we heard a strange, clattering 
noise and, looking from the window, noticed a per- 
fect cloud of dust arising above the hedge which 
hid the road from view. A strange feeling crept 
over me as I ran through the hall into the front 
room to look into the road. Here a sight which 
I can never forget met my eyes. The first thing I 
saw was the unmistakable Rebel flag, and this was 
followed by some four hundred cavalrymen. I in- 
stantly thought of Mr. Russell, who at this very mo- 
ment was still ignorant of the peril he was in. My 
sister hastened to him, urging him to conceal him- 
self as it was too late for him to reach the fort. He 
had but a moment in which to give her his pocket- 
book, containing fifty dollars in money. This she 
concealed in the bosom of her dress. Forgetting 
his watch, he went up-stairs and lay down upon the 
bed. He had not been in good health for some time. 
Of course, concealment was out of the question 
and this was all done on the instant. 

"In the meantime the Confederates had been busy 



232 PILOT KNOB 

letting down fences and striding here and there until 
the yard was full of them. My sister noticed the 
return of her children, who, pale with fright, said 
they had met the soldiers, who told them to go home 
for there was to be a battle there in a few moments. 
Just then two men entered the house with their 
pistols cocked and, with an oath, demanded where 
the Union man of the house was. My sister said 
she would not tell them, — they could search for 
themselves. By this time others had come in; they 
went down cellar, into the bedrooms, opening draw- 
ers, pulling beds to pieces and carrying out all they 
could shoulder of bedding, clothing, etc. One of 
the number came from the cellar with a pie in one 
hand and a huge piece of honey in the other, shout- 
ing to his comrades to help themselves, there was 
plenty left, and he reckoned this was headquarters. 

"Of course they were not long in discovering my 
brother-in-law and, with a fiendish yell, they pushed 
him down the stairs, demanding his money, at the 
same time searching his pockets. Disappointed at 
the result, they jerked his watch from the guard and 
drove him out of his own door. My sister followed 
him to the door, her baby clinging to her, and saw 
one of them strike him on the head with the butt 
of a pistol. As she saw the blood flow down over 
his face she screamed : 

" They have killed him ! They have killed him ! 
My God, they have killed my husband !' 



IN THE WAKE OF CONFLICT 233 

"In her frenzy, she begged them to save her hus- 
band's hat, which one of them had appropriated, it 
being much better than his own. They had already 
taken every other vestige of clothing belonging to 
him, one entire suit besides shirts, boots, shoes, and 
everything. But even the hat was refused her. 

"We noticed that they were in a great hurry, ap- 
parently retreating. One of them asked me how 
many men we had at the fort. I replied that I could 
not tell but had heard that we were to have a re- 
enforcement of fifty thousand ! With a whistle, 
they left and backed off toward the woods and we 
shouted for joy as the shells came screaming from 
our fort and our blue-coats made their appearance. 
On they came, in full chase, and in that moment we 
felt that we were safe. Well for us that we were 
ignorant of the smallness of our forces and the mag- 
nitude of those of the enemy, else we would indeed 
have sickened. 

"We had time now to look about us; and what 
did we see? There was not a room nor a nook nor 
a corner which had not been visited; trunks were 
turned upside down; every bureau drawer was 
emptied of its contents; every article of food eaten 
or carried off ; the orchard stripped of its fruits ; the 
farm wagon and five horses taken; the carriage cut 
to pieces. 

" 'Well,' sighed my sister, 'we will go over to 
William's and see how they have fared.' 



234 PILOT KNOB 

"We found that he, more fortunate than his 
brother, had escaped to the fort, with only a stray 
shot sent after him. His house and its surroundings 
were in much the same condition as our own. We 
found Ruth in a state of great anxiety, alone with 
her children and a colored girl. She urged us to 
remain; but sister said she must return home, con- 
senting, however, that I should remain until Wash 
O'Connor, — an orphan boy living with them, — ■ 
should come home from school. She could not 
have been gone fifteen minutes before we heard 
voices outside and, going to the door, we met one 
of our men, who said: 

" 'You had better run ; we are likely to have a 
skirmish right here.' 

"The mother took her baby in her arms while I 
led the boy, followed by the colored girl, Betsy. 
My first impulse was to go right home; but on 
reaching the yard we found the road full of soldiers, 
our men in front and the enemy in the rear. We 
ran with all our might, — the bullets whizzing over 
our heads, — across the fields in the direction of the 
home of Mr. Russell's father, Cyrus Russell, Sr. 
Several times our strength gave out, and we 
stumbled and fell, but did not dare to look back. 
We soon got to our feet, and after crossing four 
lots, we reached the house, only to find it locked and 
the inmates gone. We then tried to get to the road 
in front but found it blockaded, so we had to cross 



IN THE WAKE OF CONFLICT 235 

another lot before we came to the next house, Mr. 
Guild's, where we found an open doorway into 
which we rushed, panting for breath. 

"Here we found representatives of six families. 
They were eager to learn our story, but we could 
hardly speak from fright and exhaustion, and were 
not able to express ourselves intelligently for some 
time. Night came on, and with it 'a darkness that 
might be felt/ Supper was prepared by Mrs. Guild ; 
but there was little inclination to eat. Neither could 
we sleep. Without everything was dreadfully still, 
and it was a relief when at length the door opened 
and Major Wilson entered. He was a man of few 
words, and as he quietly wrote a dispatch to a 
brother officer, one of our number discovered a 
wound on his head which had apparently received 
no attention. Mrs. Guild offered to bathe his head ; 
and after he had had a cup of tea he left as quietly 
as he had come. Again we were alone, to struggle 
through the night of suspense. 

"It seemed a month before the first light of day 
appeared, showing us that our men had retreated 
to the fort under cover of the darkness, while as 
far as the eye could reach, we beheld Confederate 
cavalry. Oh, what a sight! The enemy every- 
where! They came pouring in over the hills from 
all points, — a procession without end. According 
to instructions given us the night before, we de- 
scended to the cellar, each one bearing some article 



236 PILOT KNOB 

which might be of service during the day; bread, 
water, chairs, bedding for the little ones, etc. The 
firing had already commenced, and we could hear 
the tramp of horses mingled with the voices of the 
enemy as they continued to pass. To look into 
one another's faces only increased our anxiety; for 
despair was written upon every countenance. 
Toward noon one or two of us ventured up the 
stairway to look out and, as the firing had become 
less frequent, the rest followed. 

"Right in front of the house a motley crowd was 
feasting upon a load of provisions left there the 
night before by our men. Surely these Southerners 
were hungry, and so wolfish did they appear with 
their grabbing that for the first time we were made 
to smile at the ridiculous figures they cut. We 
could see others pillaging from Dr. Griffith's house 
and from Mother Russell's, which had both been 
deserted. Mother Russell, who was with us, said 
she was going to make an effort to get home. I 
wanted to go to my sister and Ruth said we would 
go together. Just then a soldier, whose face was 
so honest and frank that we felt we could trust him, 
stopped before the window. I judged he was not 
eighteen years of age but he seemed to be one in 
authority, for his word among his comrades was 
law. I told him we wished to return to our homes 
and asked him if he would guard us. He hesitated 
for a moment, then consented. 



IN THE WAKE OF CONFLICT 237 

"He shouldered his gun, and we followed him 
through the crowd, not daring to look either to the 
right hand or to the left. With some difficulty 
we reached the home of Mother Russell, whose 
house was full of stragglers from garret to cellar. 
One had cut a square yard from the Brussel's carpet 
in the parlor. At the foot of the stairs we met a 
man carrying a ham, followed by a second with a 
quantity of dried beef and other articles. I knew 
that my sister had not a particle of food in her 
house. I mentioned this to her mother-in-law, who 
filled a two-quart bucket with flour, which I took 
and started on. I asked our guard how many men 
they had. He laughed as he replied : 

" 'These are only a drop in the bucket ; only ten 
thousand here!' 

"At that moment we came in sight of my sister's 
house and my heart gave a joyful bound as I saw 
her with the children in the front yard. In the joy 
of meeting we for a moment forgot our sad con- 
dition. She tried to tell me how she had passed 
the night; how the guard had deceived her, letting 
the men run like rats all over the house, appropri- 
ating everything that was left, and alarming her by 
false and cruel reports made up for the occasion, 
telling her that her house was going to be burned 
and she had better leave. She has told me since that 
the thought of her husband's peril and her anxiety 
for the dear, helpless ones, who were looking to her 



238 PILOT KNOB 

for protection, gave her courage to stay and trust 
the Great Being who, she felt, would not desert her. 

"Another night was drawing near. We were not 
hungry, but the children needed food. There was 
neither milk nor salt to be had. My sister boiled 
some of the flour in water, like minute pudding, and 
cooking a portion, bade them eat. After several 
attempts to do so, they ran to the door, spitting it 
out, while the little daughter said : 

" 'Mamma, I suppose folks can eat that if they are 
hungry enough, but I can't.' 

"We were worn out with fatigue and anxiety but 
everything was in such utter confusion we could not 
sleep, even if our minds had been at rest. I think 
it was near three o'clock in the morning when we 
heard an explosion which I know not how to de- 
scribe. Everything shook and trembled as if from 
an earthquake. We did not know the meaning of 
it then but learned by daylight that our men at the 
fort had set a slow match to the magazine and had 
quietly left. 

"The next morning we breakfasted upon one 
potato apiece and cold water. And here I am re- 
minded of a soldier riding up to our door in great 
haste and asking politely for a cup of coffee. Of 
course we could not accommodate him, and I simply 
mention it because he was civil and did not, like the 
others, demand whatever was wanted. 

"There was hurry and bustle now in every quar- 



IN THE WAKE OF CONFLICT 239 

ter, for the Confederate army had received orders 
to march. Here came a man with a quantity of 
beef for us to cook for him to take along. Another, 
in an official and businesslike way, offered to pay my 
sister two hundred dollars or more in Confederate 
notes for seven head of cattle his men had killed. 
She took it rather haughtily telling him it amounted 
to nothing in value but years hence would serve as a 
curiosity and as a relic of the war for her children. 

"Presently three men entered together, and with 
delight we looked upon the living face of my sister's 
husband. He was under guard and could only say 
a few words. They were going to take him with 
the other prisoners to their general, several miles 
distant, where he might get a release or be con- 
scripted ; he knew not which. But he said : 

" 'Look on the bright side. I may come back in 
a few days. Let us be thankful it is no worse. It 
is better than I had dared to hope. The house is 
left, and you and the children are spared. Keep 
up good courage. Good-by.' 

"To know that he was living was everything to 
my poor sister in this hour of trial ; although she 
could not but feel that in his present poor health it 
was not much better for him to be dragged along 
with the opposing army. Still she seemed more 
cheerful for the rest of the day. 

"The roads were again thronged with the cavalry, 
for word had flown like lightning to pursue our 



240 PILOT KNOB 

men, and the Confederates were in full chase. 
They continued to pass until towards night. When 
darkness came, aside from their pickets there was 
only now and then a straggler. We were now 
under Confederate rule; and very desolate we felt 
as night descended again and we knelt to ask pro- 
tection of our Heavenly Father. Every breath had 
been a prayer all through those dark days but there 
had been no place for retirement up to this time 
since the first day of the raid. How eagerly we 
turned to God's word for comfort : 'He shall cover 
thee with His feathers and under His wings shalt 
thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buck- 
ler ; thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night 
nor for the arrow that flieth by day. A thousand 
shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right 
hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. For He shall 
give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in 
all thy ways.' So precious were these words to us 
that it seemed as if we read them for the first time. 

"The night was very dark and quiet ; we did not 
dare to undress but tried to rest as best we could. 
At or near midnight we were startled by a gentle 
rap at the back door. Sister inquired : 

"'Who is there?' 

"The answer came almost in a whisper, 

" 'Theodore.' 

"She knew then that it was her husband's brother, 
Theodore P. Russell. She quietly opened the door ; 



IN THE WAKE OF CONFLICT 241 

but so altered was he in appearance that we should 
not have recognized him but for his voice. He 
tried to look like a Rebel and succeeded. He said 
he had run home for a moment to learn the welfare 
of his family. It was not safe for him to be seen; 
so he had come over in the darkness to divide with 
us the beef which the enemy had left in their haste. 
Time was precious and, as it was not in his power 
to help us further, he left to conceal himself in some 
secure place. We felt thankful to see one of our 
own number again, and as the morning dawned we 
were more hopeful. Some time in the forenoon we 
had a visit from our pastor, Rev. D. A. Wilson, 
who said many comforting things, assuring us that 
God would take care of us. After offering a short 
prayer for our safety he left, and we were again 
alone. 

"My sister tried hard to be cheerful; but as the 
days passed and no tidings came her anxiety for 
the absent one increased. She grew restless and im- 
patient, and I was relieved at last to see her weep, 
for she had not shed a tear from the beginning until 
now. At last she said she must see someone and 
would go and talk with his mother. I was afraid 
to stay alone, but she promised to return in an hour 
and started off. I watched her as long as she was 
in sight and then wondered how I could wait for her 
return. It seemed a long time until I heard voices 
in the yard, and she soon came in with her husband's 



242 PILOT KNOB 

mother. She said she could learn nothing encour- 
aging and, disheartened, she started again with 
Mother Russell for the latter's home. About half- 
way she turned and, looking back, saw three men, 
one of whom looked so familiar she waited for them 
to come up, when she heard her husband's voice 
speaking to her. I will not try to describe our joy 
and satisfaction at having him with us again. All 
misfortunes were forgotten in this moment of 
supreme happiness. 

"In his account of his release Mr. Russell said that 
as the prisoners one after another were brought 
before General Cabell, the latter inquired : 

" 'Are you a Union man?' 

"My brother answered: 

" 'Yes, I am a Union man ; always have been and 
always expect to be/ 

"Those who were vigorous were put right into 
the ranks, but Mr. Russell was too ill to be of serv- 
ice, consequently he was released. He brought with 
him a sample of his fare, namely : an ear of corn and 
a piece of dough baked on a stick, which he said he 
could eat with the rest of the prisoners. It was 
very discouraging for him to look around his farm 
and view the desolation wrought in a few days. He 
had to borrow clothing until money was sent him 
by a friend and by a distant brother with which to 
buy new. He was obliged to begin at the foot of 
the ladder again, for he had no horses, no wagon, 



IN THE WAKE OF CONFLICT 243 

and no harness. I often laugh as I recall the style 
in which I left the valley, — once so beautiful and 
now again lovely, — for my future home in Illinois. 
Our carriage was a poor, rickety cart, drawn by a 
still more rickety skeleton of a horse, left behind by 
the enemy, with pieces of rope for harness." 

Rev. D. A. Wilson on his return home after the 
battle had experiences less distressing but not less 
interesting than those of Mrs. Pitkin. He says : 

"Having lost sleep Monday night, about twelve 
o'clock I went upstairs in the hotel in quest of rest. 
Soon after Mr. Delano came to me and informed 
me that our troops were about to evacuate the fort 
and that we could go with them if we chose. With- 
out hesitation I said, 

" 'My family is in Ironton and I want to know 
how they are faring. I will stay.' 

"Tom, a big colored man who worked for Mr. 
Delano and had been brought to the hospital, over- 
heard the conversation. During the battle a thirty- 
two pounder which Tom was helping to serve had 
been dismounted by a shot and as it fell it brushed 
along one of his legs and bruised it badly. Coming 
to me now, he said : 

" 'Mr. Wilson, what shall I do?' 

"I replied : 

" 'Tom, you have been in the fort, taking part in 
the fight ; if they find you here it will likely go hard 



244 PILOT KNOB 

with you. If you are able to go with our troops 
you had better go.' 

"He thought so, too, and his bruised leg mended 
fast. Down-stairs I went with him to put him on 
the trail when, just as I had stepped two or three 
paces from the front door of the hotel, the magazine 
at the fort exploded and the debris began falling 
about us like hail. To escape I ran for shelter some 
fifty or sixty feet across the street when three steps 
would have put me safe in the hotel. The report 
was so sudden and unexpected that for the first and 
only time in the three days I lost my full presence of 
mind. 

"The next morning Pilot Knob was occupied by 
the enemy. A guard was stationed at each store to 
prevent looting by the private soldiers and petty 
officers, the commissioned officers being given the 
first choice. In an hour or so a man in a plaid 
woolen shirt, riding a big horse, stopped in the 
street near the hotel-hospital. It was Colonel 
Maclean, Price's adjutant-general. Wishing to go 
home, my thought was to get a pass from him to 
Ironton. Introducing myself, I told him my home 
was in Ironton and that I wished to return there. 
In soldier fashion he replied: 

" Well, go. We have come to set you free/ 

"Not relishing that kind of talk, I left him with- 
out ceremony. I soon met Judge Vail, one of my 
members. 



IN THE WAKE OF CONFLICT 245 

' 'Judge, I am going home,' I remarked to him. 

" 'Very well,' said he, Til go with you.' 

"So we started, meeting on the way hundreds, if 
not thousands of Confederate soldiers, but not one 
of them said 'pass/ 

"At home, it was delightful to find all safe and 
well. In the house were two Confederate colonels 
and a captain who had been there since Tues- 
day noon. Colonel Childs and Captain Calhoun for 
some reason were not on duty. Colonel Buster was 
sick. The latter was a man who at the battle of 
Pea Ridge had been thrust through the body with 
a bayonet in the hands of a German soldier. Clasp- 
ing the soldier in his arms, he held him fast until 
one of his own men came up and killed the assail- 
ant. About noon on Tuesday these officers had 
stopped at my house, close to the road, and before 
dismounting asked Mrs. Wilson if she could give 
them dinner. She replied that she had but little 
provision in the house and begged to be excused. 
They then asked her where they could be accom- 
modated. She replied that she supposed others 
were like herself. One of them, remarking that his 
comrade was sick and needed food, and observing 
that they appeared to be respectable and respectful 
men, — though not likely to take denial, — she con- 
cluded with the promptitude of woman that it would 
be better to serve willingly than on compulsion. 
So she replied, 



246 PILOT KNOB 

" 'I will do the best I can for you.' And there- 
upon they dismounted. 

"Colonel Buster, finding her with only the chil- 
dren, inquired for her husband. She told him that 
he was at the fort. The Colonel said that there 
was no need for his leaving home, as General 
Price's orders were strict that no non-combatant 
should be molested. To this my wife replied: 

" 'My husband is not of that kind. He took 
his gun with him.' 

"The Colonel had inferred from observing my 
library that I was a clergyman, and no doubt set 
me down as a 'fighting parson.' After dinner they 
were about to leave when Colonel Buster was seized 
with a violent attack of vomiting and was unable 
to proceed, so he and his companions remained un- 
til Thursday morning. They were gentlemen and 
proved quite a protection to us. I had a quantity 
of hay and oats which the Confederate cavalry had 
begun to use freely. When this was reported^ Colo- 
nel Buster ordered it stopped; and it stopped. An- 
other effort to protect us was not so successful. 
Despite the battle, my wife had baked light bread 
and had wrapped it in a blanket. As the enemy's 
soldiers were falling back after the battle, they 
stopped at the house for a drink of water and, spy- 
ing the bread, eagerly desired some. Mrs. Wilson 
was cutting off liberal slices and handing it to them 
from an open window when one of the soldiers 



IN THE WAKE OF CONFLICT 247 

caught the blanket and ran away with it and all 
that was on it or in it. My wife cried: 

" 'Oh, you have taken my bread !' 

"Her exclamation brought Colonel Buster from 
the main house, but it was too late. The soldier 
was gone and could not be identified. 

"As a reward for the kind treatment they had 
received, Colonel Buster had given my son, then 
a lad eleven years old, a five-dollar bill on a Boston 
bank, presumably good, but I was unwilling that 
he should keep it. The conduct of these officers was 
so gentlemanly that all fear of ill-treatment had 
vanished. During Tuesday evening my niece, a 
girl about thirteen years of age, bantering Captain 
Calhoun, who was a rabid 'fire-eater,' said to him: 

" 'Captain, wouldn't you like to see the old flag?' 

"He answered evasively; but Lizzie, unwilling to 
be thus thwarted, went to her room and soon re- 
turned with a small silk United States flag and, 
waving it, sang : 

" 'Oh, long may the star-spangled banner still wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave !' " 

"Colonel Buster had great fear of being made 
a prisoner and taken to a Northern prison, and, al- 
though far from being in a condition to travel, he, 
with the others, left with the army Thursday after- 
noon. Wednesday and Thursday forenoon were 
busily employed by the army in helping themselves 
to the provisions and clothing in the stores of the 



248 PILOT KNOB 

three villages of the valley. There was a general 
shedding of butternut and gray jeans for store 
clothes and for days after the army had left, un- 
principled men could be seen going south with mule- 
loads of dry goods which the soldiers had not taken. 
The whole valley, indeed, had been pretty well 
cleaned out. Some worn-out horses were left, but 
very few good animals remained. A mule killed 
in the road at my gate lay there for days before I 
could get a team to drag it away. Coffee, tea, 
sugar, in fact all groceries, were scarce in the val- 
ley until communication by rail with St. Louis was 
reestablished. For several days we were at the 
mercy of guerrillas but they did us little harm. 
None the less, it was a joyful sight when a com- 
pany or two of Union soldiers from Cape Girardeau 
came in. 

"Many wounded Confederates were taken to the 
Arcadia Seminary. But as doing so closed the 
school, I interceded, by request, with the commander 
at Pilot Knob, and they were taken to the court- 
house, to the disgust of some of the radicals. Here 
they remained until there was room for them in the 
large hospital connected with the Ironton Hotel. It 
was months before those who recovered were re- 
moved. While they were there I visited them re- 
peatedly and occasionally preached to them. The 
raid was a trying time to the people of the valley, 
but as 'Providence tempers the wind to the shorn 
lamb/ so it braces men for such emergencies." 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 

General Ewing, in his official report, writes: — 1 

"At sunrise I started Captain Hills, Tenth Kan- 
sas, acting aide-de-camp, with ten men to Mineral 
Point to acquaint the command there of my approach 
and request it to march and join me. On starting, 
they, with our advance, fell upon about twenty-five 
Rebels in the town of Caledonia and routed them, 
killing one. We then learned that our forces had 
fallen back from Mineral Point and that Shelby 
had taken Potosi the evening before. I therefore 
at once left the Potosi road and took that through 
Webster (now Palmer) toward Rolla. 

I afterward learned that after his repulse Tues- 
day Price ordered Shelby's division down from Pot- 
osi to Pilot Knob to take part in a second attack, 
and that the squad we routed at Caledonia was 
Shelby's advance. 

He waited several hours with his division to give 
us battle two miles north of Caledonia, thus giving 
us a good start on the Webster road before pur- 
suing. Marmaduke's division left Pilot Knob at 

1 "Official Records," Series I, Vol. XLI, Part I, Pages 
449-450. 

249 



250 PILOT KNOB 

eight that morning to overtake us and joined Shelby 
in the pursuit. At sundown we reached Webster, 
thirty-one miles from Pilot Knob, and rested until 
midnight. From information received there I de- 
termined to go to Harrison, Leasburg, on the south- 
west branch of the Pacific Railroad, because part 
of Colonel Warmouth's militia regiment was there, 
but especially because the road to Rolla was one on 
which we could be easily surrounded by a superior 
cavalry force, while that to Harrison led nearly all 
the way along a sharp spur of the Ozark range, 
separating the waters of the Huzza and the Cour- 
tois, and through the gorge of the Huzza, walled in 
with untraversable cliffs. To Rolla was fifty-five 
miles, to Harrison, thirty-five. I here sent Cap- 
Captain Hills, with ten men, in advance to Franklin 
with instructions to telegraph thence to the major- 
general commanding at St. Louis and to Gen. Mc- 
Neil at Rolla of our movements and to arrange 
means for securing our safe and speedy withdrawal 
from Harrison to Rolla or St. Louis. 

"The night was intensely dark and stormy and 
we groped our way with great effort and Httle 
progress. We had just reached the ridge, at eight 
Thursday morning, when the enemy charged on our 
rear guard and drove it upon the column. I placed 
the detachment of the Fourteenth Iowa Infantry, — 
Co. H, Forty-seventh Missouri, Co's. C, D, and K, 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 251 

Third Missouri State Militia Cavalry, — and Lieu- 
tenant Smiley's section of artillery, in the rear, all 
under command of Major Williams, Tenth Kansas, 
acting aide-de-camp, and, with occasional halts to 
rake the woods with grape and canister, we made 
a good and successful march. The enemy was al- 
most constantly engaged with our rear guard, but 
was unable to break through or flank it until we 
came within four miles of Harrison. There the 
road debouches on a high sweep of gently rolling 
woodland, and from that point out we fought hard 
for every step we gained. The refugees, — men, 
women, and children, white and black, — who clung 
to the command, nearly sacrificed it by their panics. 
I had to throw out the available fighting force, in- 
fantry and cavalry, as advance and rear guard and 
flankers, leaving in the body of the column the 
affrighted non-combatants, and two sections of ar- 
tillery not often brought into action on the retreat. 
Repeated and stubborn efforts were made to bring 
us to a stand; and could they have forced a halt 
of an hour they would have enveloped and taken 
us, but our halts, though frequent, were brief, and 
were only to unlimber the artillery, stagger the 
pursuers with a few rounds, and move on. We 
reached Harrison just after dark, having made the 
march of sixty-six miles in thirty-nine hours. We 
found Warmoth's militia gone. This station is 



252 PILOT KNOB 

thirty-five miles from Rolla, fifty-five from Franklin 
and eighty-two from St. Louis." 2 

Thus, in general outline, General Ewing covers 
the main events of that heroic and exhausting re- 
treat from Pilot Knob to Leasburg. But the details 
of it must be left to others, who, in different por- 
tions of the sorely pressed Union column, suffered 
its privations and perils. Capt. William J. Camp- 
bell, of the Fourteenth Iowa, tells circumstantially 
of the capture of the prisoner at Caledonia who first 
apprised the retreating column of the approach of 
Shelby's division along the Mineral Point road. 
Captain Campbell says : 

"At sunrise we were entering the little town of 
Caledonia. As we saw approaching us from the 
north a company of Confederate cavalry, our ad- 
vance guard opened fire and dispersed them, killing 
one, wounding one, and killing the horse of a third 
man, whom we took prisoner. This brought us to 
a halt. General Ewing began questioning the 
prisoner as to where he belonged. The man was 
stubborn and made no answer although numerous 
questions were asked him. Seeing that this was 

2 The railroad station called Harrison by General Ewing 
was more generally known as Leasburg during the Civil War, 
though the names were used interchangeably. Today it is 
called Leasburg only. 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 253 

occupying valuable time, and realizing that the 
cavalry we had encountered constituted the advance 
guard of the enemy in all probability, I stepped up 
quickly and asked : 

"'General, can't you make this man talk?' 
" 'No,' he replied, 'he will not answer me.' 
" 'Well,' said I, 'I will make him talk or I will 
hang him higher than Haman.' Then, turning to 
my command, I cried : 

" 'Two of you men bring me a rope.' 
"Two men ran over to a house and secured a 
rope. When they drew near to us again, the pris- 
oner raised his head as he sat on the ground and 
signified a disposition to talk. I said : 
" 'Will you answer me ?' 
" 'Yes, sir,' he replied. 
" 'Where do you belong ?' I continued. 
" 'To Marmaduke's and Shelby's command.' 
" 'How far were you in front of the main col- 
umn?' 

" 'We were instructed to ride from a mile to a 
mile and a half; we were about a mile in advance.' 
" 'How large a force have you?' 
" 'Three thousand cavalry.' 
" 'Why are you coming in this direction?' 
"He replied that they had received a messenger 
during the night advising them that the fort was 
not captured and ordering them to return. I turned 
to General Ewing and said : 



254 PILOT KNOB 



n r 



You know the result. If you want to fight, 
there is the road;' pointing north, 'if not, we must 
take some other road, and that quickly.' 

"I was getting restless over this delay and vacil- 
lation before a deadly foe, outnumbering us more 
than twenty to one. General Ewing stepped across 
the road and asked a citizen the road to Rolla. The 
man replied, 

" 'It is two hundred yards ahead. Turn to the 
left.' 

"The General returned, mounted his horse, and 
gave the command : 

" 'Forward, march !' 

"As our column filed to the left, going west. I 
remarked that we now had the enemy on our right 
and rear. Soon we had them in our rear only, and 
then we had turned one danger point. This village 
of Caledonia was said to be fifteen miles from Fort 
Davidson." 

Sergt.-Maj. Lewis W. Sutton, Fourteenth Iowa, 
has a vivid recollection of the trying march from 
Caledonia through Webster and beyond. He says : 

"General Ewing had the start of the enemy and 
the shorter way, but they were cavalry and could 
travel faster. Just before sundown the General 
marched into Webster and made his first halt after 
traveling about thirty miles. Many of the Missouri 
infantry, not being hardened to such severe marches, 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 255 

had dropped out of ranks, exhausted, and thus the 
command was reduced to about six hundred men. 
We had a cup of coffee and a hardtack for refresh- 
ment and then caught a little rest ; but at one o'clock, 
on the morning of the 29th, we were ordered to fall 
in again. 

"General Ewing now assigned the Fourteenth 
Iowa to the rear, that being the important position. 
As we started there was sharp lightning and rain and 
the thunder was very heavy and seemed low and 
close, as if to awaken the tired sleepy soldiers 
and hurry them on their way. The night was so 
intensely dark that the men could not see one an- 
other and the trees beside the road formed almost 
an arch of black foliage overhead. A little creek 
(the Courtois), swollen by the rain until it was 
nearly two feet deep and from fifteen to twenty 
feet wide, had to be waded six or eight times. The 
road could only be found by the aid of a lantern, 
carried in front ; and a few candles, which had been 
procured at Webster, were cut in short pieces, 
lighted, and placed by the side of the road. When 
the candles were gone, a bugle was sounded in front, 
but the night was too dark for the column to follow 
such a leader ; and finally a halt was ordered to wait 
for daylight. As soon as it was light enough to 
see, the march was resumed, and by ten o'clock we 
were ten or twelve miles from Webster. Just then 
the rear guard came galloping in, crying : 



256 PILOT KNOB 

" The Rebels are coming !' The news created 
temporary confusion, but when quiet was restored 
a few shots from the Fourteenth Iowa checked the 
enemy's advance. 

The men at once forgot that they had marched 
forty miles and were tired. They started off like 
fresh troops and covered some five more miles when 
the enemy came up again. They were in larger 
numbers this time and were harder to check. Fol- 
lowing this, we had covered about two miles when 
(at Huzza Creek) all the infantry and the artillery 
were required to repel the enemy's assault. The 
retreat had become exciting and there seemed good 
reason to fear for the final outcome. Yet, with un- 
tiring zeal, the weary men pressed forward a few 
miles further and crossed the Meramec River. 
Here, within three miles of Leasburg and the rail- 
road, the enemy again struck us in force. On the 
right of the road lay a little field from which the 
artillery had good range of the river and the hills 
beyond. The enemy, in spite of the fire of the 
guns, crossed the river ; but before a sufficient num- 
ber had crossed to make a charge, General Ewing 
quickly moved the militia from the line of battle 
into the road. Captain Campbell marched his 
troops across the field in line of battle, and when 
the woods were reached he filed into the road, while 
the enemy's bullets whistled through the trees 
Here Lieut. John C. Braden, of Co. C, Fourteenth 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 257 

Iowa, and our color sergeant and his guard, were 
wounded. When within a mile of Leasburg the 
Fourteenth Iowa was formed in line of battle in 
rear of the command and marched thus to the sta- 
tion, with the Confederates close behind." 

Orderly Sergt. H. C. Wilkinson, Co. H, Forty- 
seventh Missouri Infantry, remembers an episode 
of the retreat which lent a tinge of romance to even 
such a grim struggle for life and safety. He re- 
lates : 

"Some time in the forenoon, after we had passed 
Caledonia, we found one of the M. S. M. cavalry- 
men, belonging, I think, to the Third M. S. M. 
He was a fine looking young man and seemed to be 
stopping at the home of his father-in-law, where he 
had just been married. He hastily made prepara- 
tions to go with us, and his bride insisted upon 
going, too! She rode her husband's horse, while 
he walked by her side. I remember having seen 
the young couple several times during our weary 
march and believe, — I am not sure, — that the lady 
made the trip to Rolla. Once I saw the young bride 
leaning forward in the saddle, seemingly almost ex- 
hausted, and I thought that she would have done 
better to stay with her father." 3 

3 Thomas Fortune, Co. E, Fiftieth Missouri Volunteer In- 
fantry, states that the young man was Aleck Adams, of Co. 
M, Third M. S. M. Cavalry. His wife made the trip to Rolla 
with General Ewing's column, in company with her husband, 



258 PILOT KNOB 

Peter Shrum, Co. I, Forty-seventh Missouri In- 
fantry, recalls other incidents of the march : Mr. 
Shrum says: 

"At Webster we looked around to find something 
to eat, but failed to find anything. Down under a 
steep hill on the northwest side of the village was 
a large spring and a frame spring-house. As I was 
going down the hill toward it I met Sam McGehee, 
and he told me to hurry to the spring-house as there 
was a lot of the best cream there that he had ever 
tasted. I went on the double-quick but I was too 
late, — never got a drop. While at the spring I 
heard a couple of shots fired back on the hill in a 
field. I went over and found that our men had shot 
two fat yearlings and were skinning them. I cut 
a good-sized piece from one of them and roasted 
it, — this constituting my supper. 

"Co. I lay down early and tried to get a little rest, 
but we were awakened sometime in the night with 
orders to get ready to march. I had no idea what 
time it was, and I think I have never seen a darker 
night. It was thundering and lightning, and after 
a while a rain began to fall, which lasted for some 
time. Owing to the darkness and rain and to our 
lack of a guide we were long in getting started. 
Presently someone came along inquiring for a guide 
who knew the road, promising anyone who could 
lead us would be given a horse to ride. Whether a 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 259 

guide was found I do not know, but eventually we 
began marching and such traveling I never saw 
before. I could not even see that the road lay right 
down Hazel Creek, which is a very crooked stream. 
Presently we came to the point where the Hazel 
connects with the Courtois ; and we had to wade 
everything we came to, from water shoe-top deep 
to water three and a half feet deep. The prisoner 
our men had captured at Caledonia had been turned 
over to the custody of the colored men, and once in 
a while we could hear someone call out, 

" 'Where is that prisoner?' 

" 'Right hyah, 'long wid me,' a negro would reply. 

"Owing to the darkness and rain and the flooded 
condition of the creeks which we had to wade so 
often, the column was at last halted to wait for day- 
light. Wet and cold though I was I slept a little; 
and I think a great many others did the same. 
When at last it began to grow light we started 
again, and it appeared to me that we turned back 
over the way we had come. I was confused about 
the directions until late in the morning. We 
crossed the creek a few more times and then as- 
cended a long ridge ; and at about nine or ten o'clock 
in the morning we halted and sat down to rest. 
Here some of the officers suggested that we shoot 
the loads out of our guns and load them afresh, but 
others declared that it was not worth while. After 
a time we started on again, and I think we had not 



260 PILOT KNOB 

gone more than a half mile when the enemy charged 
our rear guard. As I remember, Co. I was in 
the rear of the infantry. The enemy skirmished a 
little with our cavalry; and meantime the infantry 
formed in line. But before long the enemy fell 
back and we took the road again and hurried on 
until we reached a large farm in the valley of 
Huzza Creek. We had gone some distance, keep- 
ing the farm on our right and a high bluff on our 
left, — when the rear guard and the Confederates 
began skirmishing again. Near the farmhouse a 
large ravine came down to the road from the left, 
and here our whole infantry force formed in battle 
array ready for the enemy. Our gunners brought 
their cannon into position in the road and let the 
Confederates crowd in between the farm and the 
bluff. Then they sent shot after shot right down the 
road ; and the enemy fell back in a hurry. Again we 
took up the line of march and were not again mo- 
lested until we were within a mile or two of Leas- 
burg, when the Confederates came up once more. 
They dashed in on our cavalry ; and Co. I, being in 
the rear of the infantry, the cavalry rode through it, 
and Joseph Wood, Henry Slinkard, and I were cut 
off. By the time we caught up with the company it 
was formed in line of battle in a small field, with the 
enemy outside in the surrounding woods. The re- 
mainder of our infantry had also formed further 
up in the same field and a lively exchange of shots 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 261 

took place until the enemy fell back. Then we went 
into Leasburg on the double-quick." 

Capt. H. B. Milks, Third M. S. M. Cavalry, was 
perhaps the first man called upon to offer resistance 
to the pursuing enemy, though his encounter with 
the Confederate advance was accidental. Says 
Captain Milks: 

"At daylight (on the morning of the 29th) we 
had gone only eight miles. About 9 a. m. the com- 
mand was halted on a timber-covered ridge for 
breakfast. While yet in the saddle I received or- 
ders to send a non-commissioned officer with ten 
men back as far as Webster in search of the Gen- 
eral's hand-grip, which had probably fallen off the 
caisson. Corp. William H. Cameron and ten men 
were detailed and they started back at a gallop. In 
less than ten minutes a volley was heard in the rear, 
and the detail returned with accelerated speed. The 
corporal stated that they had encountered the enemy 
approaching in large numbers. All ranks were 
broken, and confusion reigned supreme. I galloped 
to headquarters, perhaps two hundred yards away, 
and reported the situation to the General in person. 
He said : 

" 'Captain, find out immediately who or what is 
following us.' 

"The bugler, being by my side, was ordered to 



262 PILOT KNOB 

give the bugle-call 'to horse.' The bugler and I 
then galloped two or three hundred yards to the 
rear toward the enemy, and halted in a ravine or 
slight depression in the generally level surroundings. 
The bugler kept repeating calls. The enemy was 
now firing; and after waiting for a short time, dur- 
ing which I saw no other horsemen approaching 
nor any officer present, I rode to the front of the 
line which had hastily formed and commanded, 

" 'Attention! Count off by whole numbers.' 

"The count showed sixty-one present. 

" 'Boys,' I went on ; 'we are to charge with re- 
volvers in hand. There will be no command given 
after we start. When the enemy is reached, empty 
both revolvers and return at will to this ground. 
Attention! Draw pistols! Gallop, march!' 

"The line was in open order, and I never saw men 
in drilling exercises keep better alignment until the 
enemy was reached. The latter were dismounted 
cavalry, and the confusion which followed our sud- 
den attack was beyond adequate description. Each 
participant had enough on his hands to attend to. 
However, the fierce struggle was soon over, and the 
boys galloped back to the starting place, formed line, 
and counted off again. Sixty were present. The 
missing man reported next day, stating that his 
wounded horse threw him off and he 'played pos- 
sum,' — or pretended to be dead, — until he found a 
chance to crawl away. 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 263 

"As none of our forces were now in sight I in- 
structed these brave fellows to break ranks and re- 
port to their respective commanders. 4 I then rode 
rapidly forward for perhaps two miles to a point 
where two roads crossed at right angles. Here I 
picked up all horsemen who came straggling 
along and formed them in line as rear-guard. 
After sending word forward to the General, I 
held forty or fifty men for a half-hour or more, 
when we were assailed by sharpshooters and 
lost one horse killed. There being no commis- 
sioned officers present, I placed a non commis- 
sioned officer in command with orders to fall 
back slowly and, in case a strong force approached, 
to send word ahead at once. Then I rode forward 
rapidly for several mijes before overtaking the flee- 
ing column. Finally I reached an elevation where 
the artillery was standing in position, while General 
Ewing was directing the reorganization of the strag- 
gling forces. The General said to me : 

" 'Go forward to the head of the column and re- 
store order if possible, or we are lost. If the enemy 
appears in a half-hour, the artillery will open upon 
them. As soon as you hear the report of the guns 
halt the head of the column.' 

4 Captain Milks at this time was recruiting for a new M. 
S. M. regiment but had no command of his own, save as it 
was assigned to him temporarily or, as in this case, assumed 
on the spur of the moment. 



264 PILOT KNOB 

"The ball opened before I had gone far, and ref- 
ugees, citizens, and soldiers began running like 
frightened wolves. I rode until my horse, — a good 
one, — was almost exhausted, shouting to every 
officer I passed as I pointed to an elevation ahead: 

"Tall into line!' 

"The artillery came thundering along and halted 
at the designated place. Officers ordered their men 
to fall into line as fast as they came straggling up, 
and the men obeyed with alacrity, seemingly more 
from exhaustion than sense of duty. But the mob 
feature had vanished; and I saw no more drawn 
sabers forcing men into ranks. Each command 
vied with the others in acts of valor; and I espe- 
cially remembered the men of a detachment of an 
Iowa regiment, who proved themselves all heroes." 

Sergt. J. C. Steakley, Co. K, Third M. S. M. 
Cavalry, — who was with Captain Milks in the head- 
long charge of the rear-guard, mentioned above, and 
in the many other adventures of the march, — de- 
scribes them in circumstantial detail, disclosing 
many incidents of the retreat, thrilling, pathetic, or 
amusing. He says: 

"At Webster, which we reached near night, we 
stopped, killed some poor old cows, broiled and ate 
some of the meat, and lay down to take a nap. At 
midnight we started on the march again. The rain 
was drizzling down; and dark, — ugh! Drifts of 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 265 

wood were set on fire to light the way. One piece 
of artillery became lost in the Courtois, beside 
which we were traveling. At last we halted on ac- 
count of the darkness, and we, of the rear guard, sat 
down by the road and held our horses until it be- 
came light enough to see, when the command went 
on again. We had got some distance along the 
'Six Mile Ridge' when a call was made for ten 
volunteers to go back and look for some papers, said 
to have been lost in the darkness during the march 
of the night before. Troy W. Shell, William 
Johns, and the writer, of Co. K, with perhaps an- 
other man of the same company, volunteered, and 
we started back in company with five men and a 
corporal of Co. H. The corporal was in command. 
We had not gone far when we saw three or four 
mounted men ahead of us, who at once turned their 
horses and ran. Being used to this sort of thing, 
we put spurs to our horses and pursued at full speed. 
"The Co. K. boys were armed with long Austrian 
rifles, in addition to their sabers, and two heavy 
eight-inch pistols and two horse pistols each. I 
still had the Austrian rifle which I had picked 
up in the rifle-pit at Fort Davidson. Before 
we started on this search for the missing papers, 
judging that we might find business requiring quick 
work, we had hidden our long guns in the leaves of 
a tree, intending to get them when we came back. 
There, I suppose, they still are, for when we came 



266 PILOT KNOB 

back we had no time to stop or even to think of 
them. When we had reached the south end of the 
ridge in pursuit of the fleeing horsemen and, — being 
unable to check our horses, — had gone on about two 
hundred yards down the slope, all at once we found 
ourselves within squirrel shot of a line of mounted 
Confederates formed across the road. It seemed to 
me that I could see their mouths watering and al- 
most hear them say, 'Come into our arms, my 
honeys !' 

"As we at last brought our horses to a stop, a 
man on the left of the enemy's line made a move 
toward us, when the corporal commanding our 
squad called out to him to halt, demanding : 

" 'Where do you belong?' 

"The man, who was a citizen and, as we learned, 
a Union man and a prisoner, looked dumfounded. 
It seemed to me that I could begin to feel hot bullets 
penetrating my skin and the Johnnies pulling my 
boots off. Indicating the enemy's lines, I ex- 
claimed : 

" 'Corporal, look yonder !' 

"But he only demanded again of the citizen, 
'What command do you belong to?' while all the 
time I kept repeating to him : 'Corporal, corporal ! 
Look yonder!' 

"The citizen prisoner sat still, it seemed to me, 
for two minutes ; then at last he said, pointing back 
to the line across the road: 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 267 

" 'I am a prisoner, however, there are the Rebels.' 

"And thereupon he clamped his feet under the 
little gray mare he was riding and went like an 
arrow in the direction of our main command. He 
escaped and, reaching our column, reported the ten 
of us captured. But we were not captured. To 
the contrary we whirled our horses around and went 
up the hill and away fully as fast as we had gone 
down, and, — although it seemed that every man of 
the enemy fired at us, — we reached the rear guard 
without a scratch; and also without our long guns. 

"Very soon the enemy's skirmishers came up on 
the rear guard and began firing. This excited and 
confused the raw troops of the infantry very much, 
for they were almost worn out from four days and 
nights of fighting and marching, with scarcely any- 
thing to eat ; more so than the artillery and the few 
mounted men. So I suggested to Captain Milks 
and Lieutenant Pape, commanders of the rear- 
guard, that we charge the enemy's skirmishers and 
check the pursuit, giving our weary infantry a 
chance to get ahead a few miles further. Captain 
Milks, a New Yorker, frank and brusque, replied: 

" 'Well, Sergeant, if you think we had better 
charge them, I guess we will do it.' 

" Tt seems to me the best plan,' I answered. 'But 
if we charge them, let me take one man and ride back 
to the level of the ridge to see how many there are 
of them and exactly where they are.' 



268 PILOT KNOB 

'"All right, Jimmy,' said Milks and Pape; 'but 
be careful or you will be killed/ 

"I took William Johns with me, and we went 
ahead to a point where, sitting on our horses behind 
two large trees, we could see the enemy's skir- 
mishers. There were twenty-five or thirty of them 
strung across the road about three hundred yards 
back on the ridge, and they stood from six to ten 
paces apart, concealing themselves as much as pos- 
sible behind trees. Several shots were fired at us 
as we returned to report what we had seen. We 
found that our little squad had formed, facing 
toward the enemy. Then said I to Milks and Pape : 

" 'We had better go slowly at first ; but when we 
reach the level we should come into full charge, and 
lie as low as we can on our horses' necks. They 
have long guns, and will fire as soon as they see us ; 
and then will be our time with our pistols, before 
they can reload.' 

"We charged exactly as I had suggested, going 
entirely through and beyond the enemy's line; and 
if one of them escaped death I did not see him get 
away. After we had run through the skirmish-line, 
I was sitting on my horse in the head of a deep 
hollow, looking for something to shoot at, when I 
heard a sound down in the hollow somewhat behind 
me. Turning, I saw a man, whom I took to be a 
Confederate officer and the commander of the skir- 
mish-line, shooting at Lieutenant Pape with a very 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 269 

small pistol. I turned in my saddle and pulled down 
on him with my pistol, and as he squatted down be- 
hind a clump of dogwood bushes I fired at his head. 
At the same instant a shot fired from their main col- 
umn, that was coming up about one hundred and 
fifty yards behind their skirmish line, cut the jugular 
vein under my horse's right ear and broke his neck. 
He went down like a beef, and I sprang out of the 
saddle just in time to avoid having him roll over 
on my saber and left leg; for, as he began struggling 
he threw himself toward me on the slope of the little 
hollow. I straightened up and, looking around, 
saw that I was the only living soul there. Now 
came a moment when thousands of thoughts passed 
through my mind in utter confusion, for to run out 
on foot seemed impossible, while to stay there meant 
that I would surely be captured and murdered. 
But, taking the only chance, I started to run out. I 
had on a regular cavalry overcoat, which I would 
have thrown away but for the fact that my saber- 
belt, holding two pistols, was buckled around on the 
outside of it while I also had a quantity of fixed 
ammunition stowed in the bosom of it. So I caught 
up my saber with my left hand and, with an eight- 
inch Remington revolver in my right hand, I pulled 
out before my poor horse, whose hot blood was 
splashed all over me, had stopped struggling. 

"I had to run about forty yards before I got out 
of the hollow and up on the level where the enemy's 



270 PILOT KNOB 

main column could see me. As soon as they did 
they began firing at me but did not touch me; the 
thick black oak timber probably saved me. I ex- 
pected a squad to run up on me; but nothing of the 
kind happened because, as I learned subsequently, 
they thought our whole command was crouched be- 
hind the hill, from which we had charged, and was 
about to attack them, — which was exactly what we 
wanted them to think. When I came near the point 
where our charge had started, I saw Comrade John 
W. Pritchet getting away as fast as he could on a 
claybank mare, which had been wounded by a shot 
between the hoof and joint of one hind leg, though, 
fortunately, no bone had been broken. Being al- 
most exhausted, I cried to him : 

" 'Oh, Johnnie !' 

"I did not speak very loud, partly because I could 
not and partly because I did not know how close 
the enemy was behind me. Pritchet looked back 
and, thinking me a Confederate, began spurring his 
wounded mare. Again I cried, and this time louder, 

" 'Oh, Johnnie! Stop, or they will get me!' 

"He now recognized me and stopped. When I 
caught up with him I asked him to ride up beside 
a log, and he did so ; but I was so nearly exhausted 
that I could mount neither the log nor the horse. 
I told Comrade Pritchet that I would have to get 
my breath a little before I could climb to the log and 
thence to his wounded animal. After about two 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 271 

minutes, which seemed two hours, I succeeded in 
doing it; and the crippled mare carried us both out 
safely. The rest of our squad had thought us killed 
or taken prisoners, as they had seen my horse go 
down. 

"Our loss in accomplishing our purpose of check- 
ing the enemy's pursuit had been : Levi Lincoln, 
taken prisoner (he subsequently escaped), after hav- 
ing his large sorrel horse killed in the road as we 
were in full charge ; Jesse Halm badly crushed by 
his horse when it fell in the charge; my own horse 
killed, and John W. Pritchet's horse wounded and 
abandoned. I do not know that Levi Lincoln be- 
longed to any military organization; but he was a 
good soldier. His horse which was killed belonged 
to his brother, Henry R. Lincoln, a member of my 
own company, — K. Henry was too sick to ride at 
the time, so Levi volunteered to go in the rear guard 
with us. 

"Our skirmish with the enemy had given our 
weary infantry a chance to get ahead so far that 
the main column had passed the ridge and was 
marching along beside a narrow farm on a small 
creek when the Confederates caught up again and 
began firing. They formed on a hillside near a 
blacksmith shop, and our artillery whirled around 
and went into action on a ridge northwest of them, 
which was thickly covered with pin oaks. Here the 
enemy seemed to intend attacking us in full force 



272 PILOT KNOB 

but their idea had changed so much by the time the 
artillery had sent a dozen rounds of shot, shell, 
grape, and canister, into their ranks that their firing 
almost ceased and our boys went ahead again, hav- 
ing lost one artilleryman and one infantryman of 
Co. H, Forty-seventh Missouri, killed. In this skir- 
mish the mounted men, except those who were act- 
ing as flankers, were formed with the infantry as 
supports for the artillery; the little squad to which 
I had the honor to belong being stationed on the 
left, between the artillery and the farm above re- 
ferred to. 

"The enemy did not trouble us further until we 
came within about one mile of Leasburg, when they 
caught up with us again and made a great effort to 
stampede us. I was now riding the horse which 
had fallen on and hurt Jesse Hahn during our first 
charge, on the Six Mile Ridge. Battery H wheeled 
about, unlimbered and formed facing toward the 
east, with the left-hand gun near the road. I was 
in line near this gun, and the other mounted men 
and infantry formed not far away, about one hun- 
dred and fifty men of the Fourteenth Iowa being on 
the right of the battery. The enemy was pouring 
into the valley south of us, from a quarter to a half 
mile away, though I have since learned that one 
command, that of Col. William Jeffers, the Eighth 
Missouri (Confederate) Cavalry, was not over two 
hundred yards from us, behind a high point just 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 273 

west of our right wing. A member of Colonel 
JefTers' command, who is now a neighbor of mine, 
tells me that the regiment had been sent there to 
charge us from the west, but that Colonel JefTers, 
on peeping over at us from the top of the ridge, 
exclaimed : 

" Til be d — d if we'll charge them ! They are 
all there in a nest.' 

"It was a fine open ridge on which Battery H 
was formed, — a ridge overgrown with sage-grass 
and some small, scattering black-jack and black oak 
timber; and how beautiful to a soldier's eyes it was 
to watch the play of those six guns, as under the 
commands of the artillery officers they belched their 
fire into the heavy timber where the enemy was try- 
ing to form and charge us. But some of the newly 
organized companies of infantry were very much ex- 
cited with the fear of being taken and killed ; and the 
chances seemed so much against us that even some of 
the mounted men, who had seen three years of serv- 
ice and who, I thought, would never flinch, became 
frightened and ran away, never stopping until they 
reached St. Louis. Here I saw Lieutenant-Colonel 
Maupin, of the Forty-seventh Missouri Infantry, 
who was doing his utmost to rally and form his 
men, seize a second lieutenant whom I had known 
since childhood and who was making good time 
toward the rear, whirl him about and shove him 
into his place. 



274 PILOT KNOB 

" 'Get in line, there !' he commanded angrily. 

"A moment afterward a big six-foot negro came 
along, clearing about fifteen feet at a jump, his 
musket in his hands, his eyes bulging out, his mouth 
open and blowing like a porpoise. As he passed 
Colonel Maupin, the latter caught him by the arm 
and jerked him around face to the enemy, exclaim- 
ing: 

" 'Get in line, now, and go to fighting!' 

" 'I will, massa !' answered the negro, and, bang ! 
went his gun into the air at an angle of forty-five 
degrees. He was certainly the worst scared and 
palest black negro I ever saw. 

"In the midst of all this confusion and alarm I 
heard the command, 

" Tall in here, Fourteenth Iowa. D — n them, 
we can whip them ourselves !' 

"How encouraging it was to see that veteran 
captain, with his sword in his right hand and his 
hat in his left, forming his men steadily under the 
muzzles of the right wing of Battery H, and to hear 
him call out, 

" 'Right dress ! Front ! Forward, march ! 
Double-quick, march!' 

"Then forward they went, like Spartans of old; 
and when about one hundred and fifty or two hun- 
dred yards in front of the battery they halted, 
dressed, and we could distinctly hear the officer call 
out: 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 275 

" 'Load ! In nine times, load ! Ready ! Aim ! 
Fire ! Load ! In nine times, load !' 

"So simultaneous was their fire, that it sounded 
like the report of one gun, though as loud as a 
cannon. After about two hundred shots had been 
fired by Battery H, and probably twenty volleys by 
that brave little band of the Fourteenth Iowa, every- 
thing quieted down in the valley in front of us as 
if the enemy had seated themselves to take their 
after dinner smoke; and the guns limbered up and 
we went into column and jogged on into Leasburg 
without further trouble." 

Private John A. Wynn, Co. A, Third M. S. M. 
Cavalry, who had a hard experience on the retreat, 
as his horse had been captured, says : 

"At the crossing of the Courtois River my feet 
had become so swollen that it took two of the boys 
to pull my boots off. After they were off it was 
worse than ever, as the rocks cut my feet to pieces 
until I could hardly walk. When we came to the 
long ridge, Captain Johns, of my company, got off 
his horse and let me ride about two miles ; but when 
I dismounted again I was so lame that I soon fell 
behind with the Fourteenth Iowa, who were in the 
rear to protect the artillery as we came down the 
hill to the Huzza Creek. Here we were furiously 
attacked in the rear, and were ordered to hold the 



2?6 PILOT KNOB 

enemy until the main column and the artillery could 
cross the creek. Shelby's advance guard, coming 
in on a cross-road, struck between our rear guard 
and the column, but Captain Powers held them back 
until a crossing was effected. When I crossed the 
water was so deep that I bowed my head and drank 
water without stopping, while the bullets were strik- 
ing the water like large drops of rain." 

Dr. Sam B. Rowe, Quartermaster Sergeant of 
the Forty-seventh Missouri Infantry, gives some 
entertaining incidents of the retreat. He says : 

"I often think how ludicrous were some inci- 
dents of that day's march. None of the officers of 
our regiment were regularly mounted, though on 
the road two or three poor excuses for horses were 
picked up. One of these was a colt about three 
years old which fell to Col. (afterward Governor) 
Tom Fletcher for a mount. The Colonel was a tall 
man, with correspondingly long legs, and when he 
appeared on this insignificant steed, with only a 
blanket under him and no saddle, while rope reins 
were attached to the bridle, he was a comical sight 
with his feet almost touching the ground as he rode. 
However he remarked that it would rest his feet for 
a while. Later in the day, seeing me limping along 
outside the ranks and sympathizing with me, he 
very kindly tendered me the use of his Bucephalous, 
which I rode nearly to Webster. 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 277 

"Here some of the men shot down the first cattle 
they found in the vicinity and, hungry and tired, we 
ate a little of the beef that we cooked on our ram- 
rods held in the blaze of our camp-fires. We then 
lay down in ranks with our muskets in hand 
and slept until about midnight, when we resumed 
the march. We marched in double file through the 
cold rain, and the night was so very dark that the 
men walked arm in arm to avoid falling, holding 
their guns reversed with the locks under their arm- 
pits to keep the priming dry. After marching about 
five miles we again halted, in the valley of the Cour- 
tois, and slept in ranks until daylight. At the time 
the rank and file of us did not realize the importance 
of that five mile march from Webster through the 
rain and darkness, yet to it we, no doubt, owed our 
escape from capture. When we had arrived at 
Webster the previous evening, weary and footsore, 
a number of people were there from the cross-roads, 
villages, and farms of the surrounding country, 
among them two women whose homes were back 
somewhere near Caledonia. After we had settled 
down, as we supposed, for the night, we were sur- 
prised to see these two women pass out, mounted, 
through our lines ; and we were of the opinion that 
they would give the enemy information of our posi- 
tion at Webster, — a place poorly situated for de- 
fense. We learned later that this was what General 
Ewing wanted them to do, and that he had inten- 



278 PILOT KNOB 

tionally permitted them to pass out of our lines. 
Soon after they had gone we were ordered to re- 
sume our march 5 and at daybreak next morning the 
forces of Shelby and Marmaduke surrounded Web- 
ster and closed in from all sides, only to find that 
the bird had flown. By the time they had recovered 
from their surprise we were probably ten miles on 
the way to Leasburg." 

Capt. W. V. Lucas, Co. B, Fourteenth Iowa In- 
fantry, tells of the gallant conduct of the detachment 
of his veteran regiment, without whose steadying 
influence at critical moments General Ewing's col- 
umn would almost certainly have been overwhelmed 
before it reached its destination. 

"At eventide," writes Captain Lucas, "we reached 
the little town of Webster, nestled under the hills. 
A halt was made and the men made coffee and ate 
ravenously a supply of hardtack and bacon, — the 
first food we had had in about thirty hours. When 
we were on our road again, to add to our hardships 
rain began to fall, and it continued to fall all night 
in torrents. It was inky dark and the road crossed 
the crooked little river every half-mile or so. We 
blundered along over stumps and stones and against 
trees, plunging into the stream, which was rapidly 

5 The camp-fires were left lighted to deceive the enemy into 
the belief that the Union troops were still resting around 
them. 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 279 

rising from the heavy downpour, and the waters of 
which were often so deep as to strike the shorter 
men about their armpits. We caught one another's 
hands so that if a man fell or was swept off his feet, 
he would not be lost. Still there was no complain- 
ing, for we knew that every mile gained through 
the night brought us that much nearer to safety. 
As morning dawned we came upon higher ground 
and left the river, while the physical character of 
the country became such that Shelby and Marma- 
duke were not able to flank our retreating column. 
"About nine o'clock, on the morning of the 29th, 
the enemy's advance struck our rear fiercely. Gen- 
eral Ewing had placed the veteran battalion of the 
Fourteenth Iowa as rear guard to support two field- 
pieces, as our battalion was the only veteran (in- 
fantry) organization in the command. As Mar- 
maduke's cavalry rushed upon us, we turned about 
face and delivered a carefully aimed volley into 
them, stopping them. A second volley was fired as 
quickly as possible, and then we turned and hastened 
back past the two guns which, meanwhile, had un- 
limbered. As soon as we had cleared the front of 
the battery, both guns fired shell into the midst of 
the enemy, then limbered up and passed us at the 
gallop, we following as rapidly as our wearied con- 
dition would permit. We made perhaps two or 
three miles before we were overtaken again, and 
then we repeated our former tactics : checking the 



280 PILOT KNOB 

enemy until the gallant Murphy could get his bat- 
tery into position, we passed the guns on a run; the 
shells were driven into our pursuers, the guns lim- 
bered up again and went by us on the gallop, and 
we followed as rapidly as we could. 

"These seesaw tactics were kept up until an hour 
or so before sunset, when we emerged into a level 
country, dotted only here and there with patches of 
oak timber and brush, a mile or two from Leasburg. 
At this point Shelby's fresh men relieved those of 
Marmaduke, who were tired out in spite of the fact 
that they had been mounted every rod of the dis- 
tance they had pursued us. With his well-known 
impetuosity, Shelby immediately hurled a charge 
upon us. But, worn out, hungry, and jaded though 
we were, the hope of safety was still nerving our 
men to deeds of valor, and they were not discour- 
aged nor whipped. Captain Campbell deployed his 
battalion into line of battle, my company being in 
the center. Thus we faced the advancing hosts and, 
with the indispensable aid of the two guns, we held 
Shelby's eager men at bay as we back-stepped for 
a mile or more. Just at dark and within a mile of 
Leasburg, Shelby, with a seeming determination to 
succeed, made his last attempt to ride us down ; and 
for the first time since the beginning of the rear 
guard fight he threw us into disorder. Our color 
bearer, — E. H. Tyler, of Co. B, — was severely 
wounded, and the flag fell to the ground ; but it was 



FROM CALEDONIA TO LEASBURG 281 

seized by some one and carried back to our reformed 
line. At this time, also, Lieut. James Braden, Co. 
C, fell mortally wounded, while several others were 
hurt. Darkness put an end to the struggle. Shelby 
drew off, and we soon reached the little town of 
Leasburg, which stood by the railroad on the brink 
of a cut as much as ten or fifteen feet deep." 

Lieut. W. C. Shattuck, Co. I, Third M. S. M. 
Cavalry, was sent by General Ewing into Leasburg 
ahead of the column to find out whether the enemy 
had yet occupied the place. He says : 

"About three o'clock on the afternoon of the 29th, 
after one of the enemy's heaviest charges had just 
been repulsed, I was ordered away from the column 
to ride in advance of the command to Leasburg to 
find out whether the Confederates had occupied that 
place. My orders were to return and report if the 
enemy was in Leasburg ; if not, I was to remain in 
the town until the command reached there. I rode 
to Leasburg, found no enemy in sight, and was 
waiting impatiently for the head of our column to 
appear, when Lieutenant Blain, of Co. D, Third M. 
S. M., rode in with eight men, — having been sent 
forward upon an errand similar to my own. 

"In a short time officers and men began to strag- 
gle into Leasburg, many of them hatless and with- 
out arms. They reported that Ewing was defeated 



282 PILOT KNOB 

and that the artillery was in the hands of the enemy. 
Lieutenant Blain, who was now in command, de- 
clared that it would not do to stay there. Presently 
a party of the enemy charged into the place but did 
not see us. Our men and horses were both in an 
exhausted condition and, believing that all was lost, 
we decided to try to reach Hermann, — the nearest 
post that we believed we could find safely. We 
rode into Hermann on Friday evening, September 
30th, and were ordered to report at once on the 
Osage, which Price's entire army was then ap- 
proaching on its march to Jefferson City." 



THE DEFENSE OF LEASBURG 

Capt. W. V. Lucas, of the Fourteenth Iowa, par- 
ticipated in or personally witnessed many of the im- 
portant events which occurred at Leasburg after 
the arrival there of General Ewing's column. He 
describes them graphically. Captain Lucas says : 

"We entered Leasburg after dark, and began 
fortifying it as best we could. Soon the sound of 
an approaching train was heard, and in a few min- 
utes a freight pulled into the cut and stopped. We 
were foolish enough for a time to believe that the 
train would carry us out of danger. Many mounted 
the cars in this faith but, like all our hopes of relief 
or escape thus far, it was dashed to the ground ; for 
the enemy promptly tore up the track on both sides 
of the town, leaving the cars standing in the cut. 
The train was bound from St. Louis to Rolla and 
was loaded with ammunition, hardtack, bacon, 
picks, shovels and several barrels of whiskey, — 
just the articles of all others that we needed, 
excepting the whiskey. With the tools we made 
earthworks, which served splendidly for our pro- 
tection; and as we dug and piled up the dirt, 
we ate hardtack and bacon, now and then 

283 



2&4 PILOT KNOB 

snatching short naps of sleep. The whiskey 
was poured out along the track by the ends of 
the ties. As the stuff rippled along, a German be- 
gan filling his canteen with it and called out to an 
Irishman who was busily digging away on the rifle- 
pits : 

" 'Chimmie, vy don't you come und fill your can- 
teen mit dot gude stufe?' 

"Jimmy looked at him and then replied: 

" 'Bedad, it's mesilf who's too busy to be a-foolin' 
about the whiskey, and, be jabbers, it's mesilf would 
rather live an' lick Price than to have a whole bar'l, 
so I would.' 

" 'Go 'long mit you,' answered the German. 'I 
gets me some schnapps, den I dig, too.' 

"By morning we were in good condition to with- 
stand an assault. Two field pieces were mounted 
so as to rake the open space, while the men were 
placed in safe positions, with piles of cartridges by 
their sides. With the coming of daylight we did 
not cease our labor of strengthening the works, for 
all day Friday we expected that an attack would be 
made for the purpose of storming the fortified rail- 
road cut. The tension was wearing on the men, 
already nearly exhausted, but they remained as 
determined as ever not to be captured. Except for 
the movements of a few parties taking observations 
our forces remained quiet. The whole force of the 
enemy was camped south of the town, the country 



THE DEFENSE OF LEASBURG 285 

between our position and theirs being an open one 
with some farm buildings ; and General Ewing was 
very solicitous lest a night attack should be made 
on us. About three-fourths of a mile south of the 
town, directly between it and the enemy's camp, 
were two large barns with many hay-stacks near 
them. The General believed that if these could be 
set on fire, the illumination would be sufficient to 
forbid any prudent officer from sending troops 
across the lighted field. He called for a volunteer 
to steal out and fire one of the barns, and Captain 
Campbell asked me if I could secure a discreet and 
daring man who would undertake the work. Corp. 
Earl J. Lamson, of my company, hearing of the 
General's desire, came to me and announced his 
willingness to attempt the task. I warned him of 
the great danger he would incur, but he assured me 
that he had considered the dangers and was willing 
to incur them, fully believing that he could accom- 
plish the enterprise and thus render a service to his 
country and his comrades. So, after giving me 
directions about some things which he wished done 
for his wife and child, — who were inmates of my 
home in Iowa, — in case he should not return, he 
stripped off all his clothes except his shirt, panta- 
loons, and stockings, and vaulting over the rifle- 
pits, disappeared in the darkness. 

"The men inside the works were cautioned im- 
pressively not to fire at anything in front until 



286 PILOT KNOB 

ordered. How anxiously we awaited results! 
Lamson's success in igniting the barn meant every- 
thing to the beleaguered command, even though he 
should fall in the effort. The minutes went by 
until a half -hour had been recorded. From the 
front not a word, nor a gun, nor a sound of march- 
ing troops was heard, which encouraged us to hope 
that he would succeed. General Ewing and his 
officers were gathered on a lookout inside the works, 
watching for evidence of Lamson's success. After 
what seemed an age someone descried a dim light 
in the upper part of what we were certain was one 
of the barns. While we were shaking hands over 
the brave boy's accomplishment of his purpose, the 
tiny light developed into a big blaze and soon be- 
came a conflagration. About this time a great 
commotion was heard in the direction of the enemy's 
camp, and many musket shots rang out. While I 
stood breathless, wondering what kind of a message 
I could send to Lamson's wife, through the mellow 
light which had begun to fall around us came bound- 
ing the intrepid corporal, landing inside the works. 
As soon as he had regained his breath, he exclaimed : 

" 'By golly, it was a close shave ! But the barn 
is on fire, and they didn't get me, either.' 

"The burning buildings and hay lighted up the 
whole country around until morning. If the enemy 
had contemplated making a night attack, Ewing's 
tactics and Lamson's bravery thwarted the plan ; for 



THE DEFENSE OF LEASBURG 287 

it would have been a costly victory for them after 
coming across the well-lighted field to face those 
deadly muskets in the hands of desperate men. As 
it was, no demonstration was made, and, as we 
afterward learned, Marmaduke and Shelby decided 
after a council that the cost of assaulting the works 
would be too great, considering the prize to be 
gained; so they concluded to move off and join 
Price, — who was then somewhere near Jefferson 
City, — and leave us masters of the field. 

"Within our works was a building from the roof 
of which a lookout was kept. Saturday all re- 
mained quiet in our front, but about noon the look- 
out called, 

" Troops approaching from the north !' 

"At once the conviction flashed upon us that the 
enemy had moved from the south to the north of 
town and was about to attack us on our weak side ; 
for all our preparations had been made to meet a 
foe from the south, the north being covered by 
thick underbrush. But in a few moments the look- 
out electrified us by exclaiming: 

" 'They carry the stars and stripes !' 

"Up to that moment I had never realized fully 
what the presence of the flag of my country meant. 
The tired, worn, powder-begrimed, and dirt-stained 
men in the little fort cheered, clasped one another 
in their arms, shook hands, cried, leaped about and 
generally acted like crazy men. In the midst of 



288 PILOT KNOB 

their rejoicing, I began to sing, 'Yes, we'll rally 
round the flag, boys, we'll rally once again.' The 
refrain was caught up, and the welkin rang as we 
sang 'with the spirit and the understanding.' It 
was a joyful time, never to be forgotten by the 
participants. Forty eventful years have come and 
gone since that day and yet, when I recall that band 
of unconquered men singing one of our country's 
soul-inspiring war songs, I say to myself that 
neither Parepa Rosa nor Louise Kellogg nor Frank 
Lumbard, nor any other star ever put the feeling 
into a song which we did on that occasion. It was 
the song of victory. Before we had finished it, Col. 
John L. Beveridge, at the head of the Seventeenth 
Illinois Cavalry, rode into our works, from Rolla. 
"Beveridge at once struck out to find the enemy 
in our front, and soon reported that he was gone, 
this being our first information of the fact. The 
next day, Sunday, we started for Rolla, footsore 
and tired, but stimulated now by a substantial hope 
that we would escape capture or more fighting. At 
St. James, some ten miles from Rolla, we were 
taken on board the cars and soon landed in the latter 
town, a haven of rest and safety." 

Quartermaster-Sergt. Sam B. Rowe, of the 
Forty-seventh Missouri Infantry, had some rather 
exciting experiences at Leasburg, in company with 
a number of others. He writes: 



THE DEFENSE OF LEASBURG 289 

"Leasburg, or H'arrison Station, consisted of a 
two-story frame hotel of probably ten rooms, situ- 
ated near the railroad track, with a platform extend- 
ing to the track from which passengers and freight 
were loaded and unloaded. As I remember, there 
was no separate depot building, the railroad busi- 
ness being transacted in the hotel. Besides the 
hotel there were probably a dozen little residences 
scattered over a square of about ten acres, while on 
the south side of the railroad, about one hundred 
feet from the hotel, was a long frame building, open 
at one side and one end, — apparently an old cattle- 
shed. South of the hotel some two hundred yards 
was an unfinished, two-story, double, log stable with 
no roof. Doorways into the lower story had been 
sawed through the logs, but entrance to the upper 
story could only be gained by climbing over the top. 
Surrounding this building on all sides was post oak 
brush about as high as a man's head, though south 
of the brush a large open field extended for nearly 
a half-mile. These details are mentioned in order 
to make clear an episode in my own experience 
which will be referred to later. The hotel was at 
the west end of a shallow railroad cut probably no 
more than five or six feet deep at its deepest point. 1 
On the north side of the railroad was a rick of cord- 
wood extending for a hundred yards or more along 

1 See the narrative, preceding, of Captain Lucas, who states 
that the railroad cut was "as much as ten or fifteen feet deep." 



2Q0 PILOT KNOB 

the track. The railroad cut and the cordwood 
proved very useful to us as temporary breastworks, 
for the enemy made a furious charge on us just as 
we entered the village. 

"While the infantry and artillery were being dis- 
posed behind these breastworks, Capt. P. F. Loner- 
gan, who was acting chief-of -staff to General 
Ewing, called for volunteers to occupy the log 
stable, heretofore described, and to hold it as long 
as possible. About two hundred men from the dif- 
ferent companies of the Forty-seventh responded 
excepting the first lieutenant of Co. A, who declined 
to assume command of any except his own men. 
As it was urgently necessary that the movement be 
made at once, a non-commissioned officer was called 
for to take command. Thereupon I volunteered, 
the first lieutenant and all the soldiers cheerfully 
agreeing to serve under me. I formed the battalion 
in line without regard to company organization, ex- 
cept that the lieutenant and his men were at the left. 
We advanced in double file, passing close by the old 
cattleshed and just then the enemy, concealed in 
the brush near the log stable, fired a volley at us. 
The balls, rattling through the walls of the shed 
close to our heads, caused a little confusion; and 
some of the men broke ranks and ran into the shed 
at the open end. I went in, and after I had re- 
minded them that they were no safer behind inch 
boards than in the open, they came out and took 



THE DEFENSE OF LEASBURG 291 

their places in line, and we advanced double-quick to 
the log stable. 

"About half the troops went inside the ground 
floor of the stable while the rest, including myself, 
climbed over the top into the second story, the floor 
of which consisted of logs laid across from side to 
side. After we had all got in we were packed about 
as close as sardines in a box. There was no chink- 
ing between the logs of the walls, which afforded us 
little protection, though the men could fire through 
the cracks. The enemy was all around us in the 
bushes, and darkness was setting in. So closely 
were we crowded together that it was difficult to 
place the butts of our guns on the floor to reload 
them after we had fired ; and many of the men held 
their guns above their heads and reloaded them so. 

"After we had been there about twenty minutes 
Captain Mace, of Co. G, joined us and took com- 
mand. He saw the danger of our position and at 
once ordered a retreat, which was made without 
regard to order ; and we were soon behind the cord- 
wood ricks again, having suffered no loss, so far as 
I know. 

"At about this time a freight train, laden with 
boxes of overcoats, blankets, and hardtack, destined 
for the troops at Rolla and Springfield, ran up to 
the station from St. Louis. General Ewing ordered 
it to proceed no further ; and the boxes were rolled 
out and placed in line on the south side of the rail- 



292 PILOT KNOB 

road track, furnishing us additional breastworks 
and a ready commissionary so far as hardtack 
would supply us. We had eaten nothing since the 
previous evening except a few turnips taken from 
patches beside the road by some of our boys, who 
would break ranks for the purpose of getting 
them. 

"It was now night and very dark and the firing 
ceased on both sides. About midnight an order, — 
which we all supposed came from General Ewing, — 
was passed in a stage whisper among the troops, 
that we should all quietly board the freight train 
standing on the track, and it would try to carry us 
to St. Louis. Everything was done silently. The 
artillery was stowed in a box-car, or cars, and the 
men climbed aboard, filling the cars and climbing 
on top of them. By close packing, room was found 
on the train for our whole command except the 
cavalry, — including the artillery horses. In trying 
to get the horses into a car some noise was made 
which attracted the attention of some officer who 
was in the hotel with General Ewing. He came 
out to ascertain the cause and, discovering what was 
going on, he went back and reported to General 
Ewing. The latter came out on the platform and 
said: 

" 'Boys, for God's sake get back to your places 
behind the defenses, or we are all likely to be 
massacred !' 



THE DEFENSE OF LEASBURG 293 

"As silently as we had climbed aboard, we clam- 
bered out again. We hastened back behind our 
breastworks just as a rousing volley was fired at 
us by the enemy, who were closely investing our 
lines. The artillery was disembarked next morn- 
ing. We learned later that the rumored instruc- 
tions to board the train had probably originated in 
an order issued to several officers to try and get 
through to St. Louis with information of our situa- 
tion; for by this time the wires were cut on both 
sides of us, and bridges were burning between Leas- 
burg and St. Louis. 

Next morning, September 30th, across the large 
field south of us we saw General Shelby and Gen- 
eral Marmaduke and their staffs ride out into the 
open to inspect our defenses and decide upon a 
line of action. What their decision was we did 
not know then, but since the war in conversation 
with Maj. William C. Kelly and Captain Peck, who 
were present, I have learned that Shelby and Mar- 
maduke decided after considerable discussion that 
they would probably lose more men in attempting 
to storm our position than an uncertain success 
would justify, and that, as we would probably not 
be an active factor in further resisting the raid,. 
they would leave a small force to make a show of 
keeping up the siege, while they themselves with 
their main body would go on and join Price's col- 
umn, then at or near Pacific. At all events, we 



294 PILOT KNOB 

were besieged by we knew not how many men until 
Saturday, October ist, when we were relieved by a 
regiment from Rolla; and before daylight on Sun- 
day morning we took up the line of march for Rolla. 
In the afternoon we were met at St. James by a 
construction train which took us all, — excepting the 
cavalry and artillery, which followed us by the 
wagon road, — to Rolla." 

Azariah Martin, Co. H, Forty-seventh Missouri 
Infantry, was placed on picket duty immediately 
after the Union forces occupied Leasburg. He 
says: 

"As we reached Leasburg I was cut off from the 
left with some forty to sixty other men to act as 
skirmishers and hold the enemy off while the rest 
of our forces built defenses along the railroad in 
Leasburg. My position was well back in a bend of 
the thick bushes; a colored soldier was my nearest 
neighbor in the line. About second relief the new 
guard came along and marched straight ahead pass- 
ing me and my negro comrade. He at once began 
to shout: 

" 'Co'p'l de g'ahd! Heah's a pos' yo' missed!' 

"I then raised my voice and cried: 

" 'Corporal of the guard ! I guess somebody had 
better relieve this nigger !' 

"In the next instant the very ground seemed to 



THE DEFENSE OF LEASBURG 295 

blaze around me, — some of the shots not over fif- 
teen feet from me and the flashes of the guns dart- 
ing past me as I stood there. And with the enemy's 
shots came this blessing: 

1 'D — n you, we'll relieve you and the nigger, 
too!' 

"And then they came. I started for our breast- 
works, but had only made a jump or two when I 
saw the flashes from the guns of our men pouring 
over the breastworks at the enemy's charging line. 
Caught between two fires I acted upon my first 
thought and, falling at full length flat on the 
ground, lay still there. The Confederates ran right 
over me in their mad charge through the thick dark- 
ness, but I soon felt them going back faster than 
they had come ahead. I waited until everything 
was quiet again, then 'snaked' my way into our 
works, unhurt ; though while I had been lying there 
flat on the ground one bullet had struck the sole or 
heel of one of my shoes, knocking my foot violently 
around and up, yet it did not injure me." 

Says John W. Wynn, Co. A, Third M. S. M. 
Cavalry, who witnessed General Ewing's reception 
of a summons to surrender on the morning of Sept. 
30th: 

"About nine o'clock a. m. a flag of truce came to 
our camp guards, about one hundred and fifty yards 



296 PILOT KNOB 

south of our main line. It was halted, a detail met 
it, and the enemy's message was conveyed to Gen- 
eral Ewing. I heard him say after reading it that 
he didn't see anything to surrender to; and then, 
turning around, he continued to a lieutenant of the 
veteran Fourteenth Iowa, 

" Tut up your old flag ! We are ordered to sur- 
render at ten a. m. or we will be opened on. We'll 
not surrender behind these breastworks when they 
didn't take us along the road!' 

"Up went the flag, and everything was made 
ready; and in about an hour the Confederates began 
making as much of a show as possible without 
endangering themselves too much. A few shots 
from our artillery warned them that we were on the 
alert. 

" 'Hold that artillery,' ordered General Ewing, 
'until they get closer !' 

"The Confederates threw out a heavy skirmish 
line and kept up a heavy fire all that day, but stopped 
it at night. Quite a heavy rain fell while we lay 
watching through the hours of darkness. At day- 
break we received orders to step outside of our 
works, shoot the old loads from our guns, and put 
in new loads. While we were doing this we heard 
a roaring sound, and, on looking toward the south- 
west, we saw a dark line approaching. 

" 'Every man to his place !' shouted General 
Ewing and all the other officers. 



THE DEFENSE OF LEASBURG 297 

"We sprang over the works, and loaded at once. 
Very soon the line halted within three hundred 
yards of us and we saw officers coming toward us 
on the gallop bearing a white flag. They proved 
to be from the Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry, which 
had been sent to reenforce us and which later probed 
the Confederate camps, two miles south of us, cap- 
turing about twenty-five stragglers." 

Peter Shrum, Co. I, Forty-seventh Missouri 
Infantry, remembers many incidents of the anxious 
days at Leasburg and also recalls distinctly the 
scarcity and uncertainty of provisions throughout 
the siege and the retreat preceding it. He says : 

"Thursday evening, September 29th, we got be- 
hind a long pile of cordwood beside the railroad 
track at Leasburg. The wood was piled up three 
tiers deep, and we set to work and pulled out one 
tier and built it up again behind us. We had been 
promised that if we got to Leasburg, we should get 
on a train and go to Rolla. But the train did not 
reach Leasburg until dark ; and then the locomotive 
was uncoupled and ran a short distance down the 
track when it was seen that Cuba was on fire. A 
short run in the opposite direction showed that 
Bourbon, the next station east, was also burning. 
Then we went to work in good earnest, piling up 
cordwood and railroad ties for protection. Tired 



298 PILOT KNOB 

as we were, we were kept busy all night, and every 
now and then the Johnnies would fire into that wood- 
pile. We could see the Hash of their guns, and we 
made them understand that we were not asleep, ex- 
changing many shots with them through the night. 
Some time next day the Confederates advanced to 
the brush south of our position and fired many 
shots ; but I never heard of more than one casualty. 
This was, I think, one of the citizens who had made 
the retreat with us. He went out into the brush, 
and was returning to the works when he was shot 
by one of our own men, who mistook him for one 
of the enemy. 

"A little over one hundred yards from the front 
of the works where I was stationed was a large oak 
tree. Immediately around it grew low brush, 
though the rest of the ground between our front 
and the tree was fairly open. One Confederate at 
last crawled up through the low brush and stationed 
himself behind that tree, from which he fired fifteen 
or twenty shots, making the bark and splinters fly 
from our cordwood breastworks. Finally in load- 
ing his gun he stepped a little too far back, exposing 
about two-thirds of his body. David Adams, who 
was at my right side, exclaimed, 'Doggone you!' 
and raising himself, took steady aim at the sharp- 
shooter and fired. The latter leaped about three 
feet in the air, caught his gun barrel in both hands 
and, making a little circle, started toward the rear. 



THE DEFENSE OF LEASBURG 299 

The last we saw of him his head was getting pretty 
close to the ground. 

"Occasional firing was kept up until dark. Some 
time in the evening, perhaps about nine o'clock, the 
enemy sent what I termed 'a sort of Goliath' with 
a challenge to General Ewing to send out a single 
officer to meet the visitor. General Ewing asked 
him who he was and what he wanted; but he an- 
swered only that he wished to meet a single officer. 
General Ewing told him he was afraid there was 
some trick about it, and the Confederate turned and 
rode away, shouting his challenge back to us until he 
was out of hearing. 

"I recall no further firing that night, though, 
tired as we were, we were kept on the alert. Next 
morning there was no enemy in sight; but as we 
could not tell what they might be doing, our officers 
set us to piling up more railroad ties and tearing 
down some old buildings the logs of which we used 
for breastworks, throwing up dirt to cover them 
with. We kept this up until one or two o'clock, 
when we were told to quit work as our friends were 
coming. As the weather had been misty or rainy 
all the time we had been there, we were also told 
to build fires and dry our blankets, as we might leave 
at any time. A regiment of Union cavalry soon 
came in which scouted the enemy's camps and 
picked up a few stragglers. Some time during the 
night, after burning a quantity of clothing and 



3 oo PILOT KNOB 

other supplies which were on the train, we evac- 
uated Leasburg and marched to St. James, whence 
we were taken to Rolla by rail. 

"It may be of some interest to know what we 
had been living on during the several hard days of 
the campaign. As I have stated before, while we 
were in the north rifle-pit at Fort Davidson, Mr. 
Ball gave us some bacon and crackers. That night 
in the fort I received a little more raw bacon and 
some hardtack. The next evening at Webster I 
cut a piece of meat from a yearling calf, which 
some of our men were skinning, roasted it, and ate 
it, without bread. The following morning at the 
point where we left the creek to climb the ridge, a 
comrade went over a fence into a field and pulled 
some turnips, — good ones for that season, — of 
which he gave me two. During our first night at 
Leasburg, Captain Bradley procured some food of 
one kind and another for his men from a family liv- 
ing there. I do not remember having anything 
more to eat during the next day and night, but on 
the morning of October ist a steer was killed and 
skinned, and everyone was told to help himself as 
long as it lasted. Some of us found a patch of late 
peachblow potatoes near by, and I broiled a piece 
of meat and roasted some of the potatoes for my 
breakfast. Later, when we were set to work build- 
ing breastworks, old 'Uncle Billy' Cravat, of Co. I, 
was detailed as cook, with a couple of helpers, to 



THE DEFENSE OF LEASBURG 301 

get dinner for us. He got flour somewhere and 
made some dough, which he rolled out with a long 
black bottle into some of the best dumplings I ever 
tasted. They went with two camp-kettles full of 
beef which 'Uncle Billy' had also cooked. I have 
no recollection of eating again until, while on the 
march to Rolla, about noon we stopped at a large 
farm-house where were a number of hives of bees, 
and an officer brought me some honey on a piece of 
a bee-stand, together with a slice of light bread. 
That was the last food we had until we reached 
Rolla, where we went into camp and drew rations." 

Sergt. H. C. Wilkinson, of Co. H, Forty-seventh 
Missouri Volunteer Infantry, whose recollection of 
the details of the campaign is very accurate, and 
w T hose descriptions are correspondingly interesting, 
says: 

"For some time on the morning of September 
30th, our surgeon stood with a white flag, beyond 
the right of our line, at the railroad crossing near 
a house flying our field hospital flag. He was seek- 
ing permission of the enemy to return to our last 
battlefield on the road south of Leasburg to attend 
to the three dead men we had left there, as well as 
any of our wounded whom we might have over- 
looked in the retreat. At last he started in a light 
wagon with a driver, but was halted at the enemy's 



302 PILOT KNOB 

advanced line, where he was told to go back to our 
works as they would bury our dead themselves. 

"Soon after this we were aroused to intense in- 
terest by the appearance of a mounted Confederate 
officer approaching us by the road over which we 
had retreated the night before, followed by another 
officer on foot, and a private bearing a white flag. 
Immediately we heard General Ewing's voice ring 
out: 

"'Halt that flag!' 

"A moment later an officer and one of our 
privates carrying a white flag, both dismounted, 
accompanied by Lieutenant Cummings, of Co. I, 
on horseback, passed out of the gateway beside the 
hotel and advanced to meet the other party. After 
some delay the flags approached within about ten 
yards of each other. Then came another period of 
waiting, and finally our officer and one of the Con- 
federate officers advanced and met each other mid- 
way between the flags. Salutations passed between 
them, but no handshaking. They held a brief con- 
versation, then bowed stiffly to each other, turned 
right about face, and each without looking back, 
returned to his own command. I never knew what 
was the purpose of the parley, other than that we 
were asked to surrender. The enemy was given 
to understand that it was a bad day to surrender on, 
but was requested to respect our hospital. 2 

2 In the official reports relating to operations about Leas- 



THE DEFENSE OF LEASBURG 303 

"Just as each white flag disappeared from sight 
the firing began again, — a language that we under- 
stood like a book. The thicket of post oak runners 
and other bushes in our front began to smoke in 
spots, and w T e at once replied. Co. H was in a good 
position in a log house, but the cracks between the 
logs were not filled and were rather wide in places. 
However, during the night and morning we had 
taken the fence rails from around a potato patch in 
our front and set them up on end as a further pro- 
tection. We could not see the Confederates, but 
we would aim low and watch for the smoke of their 
guns before firing, as we had done at Pilot Knob. 
As things warmed up General Ewing came in to 

burg no mention whatever is made of this flag of truce and 
parley, though it has been thoroughly verified by more than 
a dozen officers and men of General Ewing's command. 
After years of inquiry the fact has finally been developed that 
the Confederate officer who brought in the flag was Captain 
William M. Price, aide-de-camp to General Marmaduke. 
Captain Price's own statement, made in 1905, was to the 
effect that the flag was merely a ruse to enable him to get 
near enough to the Union works to examine their character 
and strength. He was halted, however, and met by a Union 
flag of truce at a distance of about one hundred and twenty 
yards from the works and here his demand for Ewing's sur- 
render was met by a defiant refusal. Thereupon he returned 
to Marmaduke's headquarters and reported that the Union 
earthworks had a most formidable appearance. This General 
Shelby mentions in his official report as having been the cause 
of the Confederates raising the siege and joining Price on 
his march to Jefferson City. 



304 PILOT KNOB 

see us. He came to the corner where I stood and, 
pointing down the shallow ravine that ran obliquely 
to our right, said: 

" 'You may expect a heavy column to advance up 
that ravine presently ; then pour it into them, boys !' 

"He passed on around our lines, encouraging the 
men as he went, and we felt we could put up a pretty 
good fight. As the enemy opened on us, our two 
guns, taken from the train and remounted, began 
replying; but General Ewing at once ordered them 
silenced unless a line should be seen advancing. 
The several barrels of whiskey brought down on 
the train the night before had been unheaded and the 
liquor poured out on the ground, but some of the 
boys lay down and drank out of the horse tracks, 
and at least one poor fellow got too much. He was 
behind the breastworks at the right-hand corner of 
our log-house fort, and in spite of the cautions of 
his comrades he insisted on exposing himself and 
soon a bullet struck him in the forehead and he fell 
off the breastwork into the railroad cut to rise no 
more. This was our only casualty, so far as I 
know, during that skirmish. 

"About noon the enemy ceased firing, and so did 
we. We ate dinner and then, some time during the 
afternoon, several men of Co. F came over into the 
potato patch in our front to dress a pig, which had 
been killed there during the attack the night before. 
When they came up a large elderly man, bareheaded 



THE DEFENSE OF LEASBURG 305 

(a citizen refugee), was bending over the pig, skin- 
ning it. Just at this moment a squad of men from 
Co. H and other companies rode into the field, their 
horses loaded with corn fodder, and shouted : 

" 'Yonder they come !' 

"The poor old man left the pig and began running 
toward the gateway, looking first at us and then at 
the boys with the fodder ; and while he was running 
one of our men, who had been asleep behind the 
breastwork, suddenly awoke, rose up, and fired at 
the old man. The latter fell, shot through the body, 
and never while I live will I forget his pitiful cries. 
He was led away to our field hospital, where I think 
he died not many hours afterward. The man who 
shot him said he was asleep until his gun went off 
and awoke him. 

"Toward evening, Adjutant Murphy, standing 
on or near the hotel platform, raised his voice, so 
that it could be heard by every one in the works, 
and shouted : 

" 'Attention !' 

"All eyes and ears were turned in his direction, 
and we saw Mrs. Lea and one or two other ladies, 
their faces wreathed in smiles, step up beside Adju- 
tant Murphy, who announced : 

" 'The ladies are going to hoist their flag over our 
works.' 

"Then the ladies stepped to the tall flag-staff by 
the hotel and adjusted to the rope about as pretty 



306 PILOT KNOB 

a flag as one could wish to look upon. As they be- 
gan to haul it up, shout after shout burst from every 
throat and when it reached the peak we realized 
that we again had a Post Flag, to replace the one 
which had gone up with the magazine at Pilot Knob. 

"Except for the flag raising and the shooting of 
the old man, nothing happened during the after- 
noon; and we had grown so used to the crack of 
muskets and the roar of our artillery that we felt 
rather dull in the silence. But at dusk the monotony 
was relieved for a little. Along the south road we 
saw a party of horsemen approaching, though in the 
dim light we could not make out their exact num- 
bers through the brush. They halted within eighty 
or one hundred yards of our works and hailed us. 
Adjutant Murphy went out in front to answer them. 

" 'We are General Marmaduke's men,' they called. 
'Who are you?' 

" 'Ah, all right, boys,' answered Adjutant Mur- 
phy. 'We're glad to see you. Come right along.' 

"But they repeated, 

" 'We are General Marmaduke's men. Who are 
you? 3 

" 'Well, that's all right,' returned Murphy. 'We 
are all right. Come right along in here.' Then he 
added, Tin afraid you are playing a Yankee 
trick !' 

" 'Yankee trick !' they answered. 'It's you that 
are trying to play a Yankee trick on us !' 



THE DEFENSE OF LEASBURG 307 

"'Now, see here,' exclaimed the Adjutant; 'you 
are acting the "bareface," I'm thinking.' 

" 'No, we ain't,' said they. 'We are acting the 
fair thing; it's you that are acting the "bareface." 
We are General Marmaduke's men. Who are you?' 

"Thereupon they vanished from our view. Evi- 
dently it was a scouting party, probably bearing dis- 
patches, which was just about to step into 'the wrong 
pew.' We heard no more of them. 

"Friday night we had pickets and chain-guard 
out, but the night passed quietly, with no firing. 
Saturday morning, October 1st, dawned fair and 
pleasant. Not an enemy was in sight; in fact, the 
last we had seen of them had been the scouting party 
which had blundered up to our lines the evening 
before. Our breakfast consisted of beef and hard- 
tack, while Co. F ate and were jolly over the pig 
killed in the potato patch, which they had cooked 
in a cast-iron wash kettle borrowed from one of the 
kind-hearted families of Leasburg. As broad day- 
light came a lookout with a pair of field-glasses took 
his place on the roof of the Lea Hotel. Some time 
during the morning when Captain Milks, I believe, 
was taking his turn as lookout, we were startled and 
roused to arms by hearing his clear voice ring out : 

" 'There is a line over there north, General !' he 
called. 

"Every man caught his gun, ready to open fire in 
an instant, when the Captain continued, 



3 o8 PILOT KNOB 

" 'There are some cavalrymen coming to us.' 
"Every eye turned in the direction indicated by 
Captain Milks ; and there, sure enough, came two 
blue-coated cavalrymen! Hats in hand, motion- 
ing towards us, they came; and Adjutant Murphy 
ran over to see who they were and what was wanted. 
I can see him yet as he turned towards us a moment 
later, standing on the parapet north of the railroad, 
and shouted the joyful news : 

" 'Colonel Beveridge with six hundred men of 
the Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry, — reinforcements! 
Three cheers!' 

"Ah, if men ever shook the earth by cheering, we 
shook Leasburg then ! In an instant we were wild 
with joy. As our voices died down for a moment 
for want of breath we heard the cavalry replying, 
and it was grand, — almost sublime, — to hear the 
wave of cheers begin at the head of their line of 
six hundred men and roll along as they stood in the 
road north of us, hidden from our view by the 
bushes. Then in a moment here they came at a 
gallop, shouting: 

" 'Got any hardtack, boys? Got any hardtack?' 
" 'Yes!' we shouted back; 'lots of it.' 
"At once we began to make the lids of the hard- 
tack boxes fly, and then snatched them up on our 
shoulders and formed a line outside of our works, 
with our backs to the cavalry. As they hastily rode 
past us they caught handfuls of hardtack from the 



THE DEFENSE OF LEASBURG 309 

boxes and pushed on out over the enemy's abandoned 
fields. In the hardtack line I saw old Adjt. 'Dave' 
Murphy with a box on his shoulder, his eyes spar- 
kling with pleasure as his box grew light, for he 
knew he was helping to feed the hungry boys, who 
had ridden all night with nothing to eat in order to 
reach us. We knew at that time exactly how hun- 
gry men feel ; for, putting together all we had eaten 
between Monday noon, September 26th, and Friday 
morning, September 30th, would not have made a 
soldier's square meal. 

"The cavalry regiment spent most of the day 
scouring the country south and southeast of us but 
found only a few stragglers. Then they returned 
toward Rolla. That night we posted mounted 
pickets on all of the approaches to Leasburg and a 
chain-guard about our position, and we slept soundly 
until two or three o'clock next morning, when we 
were aroused and started on our way to Rolla. As 
we crossed to the north side of the railroad, close 
by our field hospital, I noticed three freshly made 
mounds where some of our poor boys had been laid. 
Poor boys, we must leave you to hold the fort until 
called off duty by the Great Captain, when He comes 
to relieve the sleeping soldier. Farewell, comrades, 
farewell ! 

"I fell in with Co. A, as I had loaned my horse, 
'Spotty Rump,' to one of the pickets, and it was late 
in the morning before I was able to get him again. 



3 io PILOT KNOB 

About noon we came upon a regiment of cavalry 
under Col. John S. Phelps. Later in the day, — at 
Crawford's Prairie, near St. James, — we came upon 
a larger force, and at St. James the infantry boys 
went on board a construction train and were soon in 
Rolla. We of the cavalry did not reach there until 
nearly dark, camping among the Forty-eighth Mis- 
souri Volunteer Infantry. But when we finally did 
arrive, we certainly got some good 'Linkum' coffee ! 
And thus ended our retreat from Pilot Knob to 
Rolla." 



SUMMARY 

The campaign of six days' duration, which began 
at Pilot Knob and ended at Leasburg, was remark- 
able in many ways, but chiefly so because of the im- 
portant advantages accruing from it to the Union 
cause in the West. As has already been pointed out 
in an earlier part of this narrative, General Price 
made his initial error in departing from his direct 
line of march upon St. Louis for the purpose of 
capturing the small garrison at Pilot Knob, which, 
left to itself, would have been powerless to retard 
his advance upon the city or to prevent him from 
capturing it. But, once in contact with Ewing's 
little force of one thousand men, Price lost not only 
the two days consumed in driving the Union ad- 
vanced line from the Arcadia Valley and in assault- 
ing Fort Davidson, but four days more in following 
and fruitlessly endeavoring to capture Ewing's re- 
treating column. During these last four days Price 
thus neutralized two of his three divisions, and 
Fagan, advancing alone toward St. Louis, was, of 
course, too weak to attack the Union line of defense 
along the Meramec. General Ewing's gallant de- 
fense of Pilot Knob, undertaken under orders from 
General Rosecrans, saved two priceless days to the 

311 



3 i2 PILOT KNOB 

defenders of the city, and these would have been 
saved had he even surrendered on the morning of 
September 28th, as he would have been amply justi- 
fied in doing in view of the exhaustion of his men and 
the vast numerical superiority of the Confederates. 
But when, acting upon his own initiative and with- 
out orders, he took the heroic resolve to retreat and, 
if possible, save his little command from capture, 
thus inducing the Confederates to detach two-thirds 
of their army in pursuit, his action gave to General 
Rosecrans the additional time necessary for putting 
St. Louis in a thorough state of defense and for 
placing the city entirely beyond danger of invasion. 
If, therefore, the defense of Pilot Knob can justly 
be compared to the defense of Thermopylae or of 
the Alamo, the retreat to Leasburg may surely be 
likened in valor and skill to the retreat of the ten 
thousand Greeks from Cunaxa, or of the fugitive 
army of the Marshal Belleisle from Prague. 

The speed of the march from Pilot Knob to Leas- 
burg was in itself a remarkable achievement, as may 
be readily appreciated if it is compared with a few 
of the famous forced marches of history. It will 
be remembered that General Ewing covered the 
sixty-six miles between the two points in thirty-nine 
hours, an average of a little more than one and two- 
thirds miles an hour, or forty and one-half miles a 
day. This was accomplished over a rough country 
road, abounding in unbridged streams, by a mixed 



SUMMARY 313 

force of infantry, cavalry and artillery which was, 
moreover, called upon to fight a half-dozen more or 
less severe rear-guard skirmishes during the retreat. 
The Spartans are credited with having marched at 
the rate of fifty miles a day for three days in going 
from Sparta to the field of Marathon, with 2,000 
infantry; the Macedonians, in 330 B. C, marched 
to Artacoana with 6,000 men of all arms in two 
days at the rate of thirty-seven and one-half miles a 
day; Julius Caesar, in 54 B. C, going over winter 
roads with 8,000 men of all arms, marched from 
Samarobriva to the relief of Q. Cicero at the rate 
of twenty-two miles a day for five days; Marshal 
Turenne, in 1657, made, probably, the most rapid 
march of the seventeenth century when he went 
from the Scheldt-Sambre region to Lys in three 
days, at the rate of twenty-five miles a day; even 
"Stonewall" Jackson, with about 13,000 men of his 
famous "foot cavalry," made only twenty-four miles 
a day for two and one-half days on his retreat from 
Harper's Ferry after the battle of Winchester, in 
1862, which was a fair example of his rapidity of 
marching. 

Truly, after such great achievements, General 
Rosecrans was justified in issuing the following con- 
gratulatory order, expressive of the gratitude of the 
army and of the people of Missouri to the officers 
and men who had so nobly acquitted themselves of 
their trust: 



3 i4 PILOT KNOB 

"Headquarters Dept. of the Missouri, 

"St. Louis, Mo., October 6, 1864. 
"General Orders, 
"No. 189. 
"With pride and pleasure the commanding gen- 
eral notices the gallant conduct of Brig.-Gen. 
Thomas Ewing, jr., and his command, in the de- 
fense of Pilot Knob, and in the subsequent retreat 
to Rolla. With scarcely 1,000 effective men they 
repulsed the attacks of Price's invading army, and 
successfully retreated with their battery a distance 
of 100 miles, in the face of a' pursuing and assailing 
cavalry force of five times their number. Such 
conduct deserves imitation; particularly when con- 
trasted with the cowardly conduct of the troops at 
the Osage bridge. The general commanding pre- 
sents his hearty thanks and congratulations to Col. 
Thomas C. Fletcher, Forty-seventh Missouri Vol- 
unteers; Maj. James Wilson, Third Cavalry, Mis- 
souri State Militia; Capt. Robert L. Lindsay, Fif- 
tieth Missouri Volunteers; Capt. William J. Camp- 
bell, Company K, Fourteenth Iowa Volunteers; 
Capt. W. C. F. Montgomery, Second Missouri Artil- 
lery; Capt. A. P. Wright, Second Cavalry, Missouri 
State Militia; Lieut. John Fessler, First Infantry, 
Missouri State Militia, and the officers and men 
under their command. They have deserved well 
of their country. The general commanding desires 
also publicly to recognize the courage and efficiency 



SUMMARY 315 

of Lieut. Col. Amos W. Maupin, Forty-seventh 
Missouri Volunteers; Maj. H. H. Williams, Tenth 
Kansas Volunteers; Capt. Charles S. Hills, Tenth 
Kansas Volunteers; Capt. H. B. Milks, Third Cav- 
alry Missouri State Militia; Capt. P. F. Lonergan, 
First Infantry Missouri State Militia; and First 
Lieut. David Murphy, adjutant Forty-seventh Mis- 
souri Volunteers. Under such commanders Fed- 
eral troops should always march to victory. 
"By command of Major-General Rosecrans: 

"Frank Eno, 
"Assistant Adjutant-General." 

General Ewing in his official report made a state- 
ment regarding the losses sustained by his own 
command and by the enemy at Pilot Knob which 
showed such an astounding disproportion that in 
some quarters incredulity was aroused, the Leaven- 
worth (Kansas) Bulletin, in particular, questioning 
the General's official statement, which was as fol- 
lows i 1 

"Our loss at Pilot Knob was about 200 killed, 
wounded, and missing; and in the several engage- 
ments on the retreat to Rolla about 150. Of the 
missing the most were cut off in detachments and 
escaped capture, so that our actual loss was about 
150 killed and wounded and 50 captured and pa- 

1 "Official Records," Series I, Vol. XLI, Part I, Page 451. 



316 PILOT KNOB 

roled. Among our severely wounded were Lieut. 
Smith Thompson, Fourteenth Iowa; Lieut. John 
Fessler, First Infantry, Missouri State Militia; and 
Lieut. John Braden, Fourteenth Iowa Infantry, 
since dead. Maj. James Wilson, Third Cavalry, 
Missouri State Militia, after being wounded, was 
captured on Pilot Knob, and subsequently, with six 
of his gallant men, was brutally murdered by order 
of a Rebel field officer of the day. The Rebel loss 
at Pilot Knob, killed and wounded, exceeded fif- 
teen hundred, as is shown by the enclosed letter of 
T. W. Johnson, surgeon in charge of our hospital 
there, and also by corroborative testimony gathered 
since our reoccupation of the post. In the Rebel 
hospital at I ronton, on the 12th instant, we found 
Colonel Thomas, chief of General Fagan's staff, 3 
majors, 7 captains, 12 lieutenants, and 204 enlisted 
men, representing seventeen regiments and four 
batteries, all dangerously and nearly all mortally 
wounded. The rest of the Rebel wounded, who 
were not able to follow the army, were sent South 
by General Price, under escort of Colonel Rains' 
regiment. As to the loss of the enemy in the pur- 
suit and at Harrison I have no knowledge." 

The letter from T. W. Johnson, above referred 
to, does not appear in the body of the "Official 
Records," but it was doubtless the one a copy of 
which was found, together with several other let- 



SUMMARY 317 

ters on the same subject, among General Ewing's 
private papers after his death. It runs thus: 

"Headquarters St. Louis District, 
Medical Director's Office, 
St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 14, 1864. 
"Lieutenant : 

"The undersigned, having been left in charge of the sick 
and wounded of General Ewing's command which were left 
at Pilot Knob after the late battle, has the honor to make the 
following statement, for the information of the General com- 
manding. 

"A few days after the battle, and while the Rebel burying 
parties were in active operation, a Rebel non-commissioned 
officer in charge of the work showed a list of those already 
buried. On that were the names of three hundred and thirty- 
five as already buried, since which time many more of their 
killed were brought from Sheoherd's Mountain and Pilot 
Knob. Also, in their hospital they were dying at the rate of 
from five to eight a day. 

"The Rebel officers admitted their loss in killed to have been 
four hundred, and enlisted men of their commands set it even 
higher. 

"I left I ronton on October 10th, and was through the Rebel 
hospitals the evening before, saw and examined every 
wounded man. About two hundred and fifty were still left 
and every case I saw was a severe if not a dangerous one. 
Every man who could be moved had been taken South. So 
many have gone that citizens from below have told me, the 
Rebels were moving all their wounded South ; and they did in 
reality move every man whose life the move would not en- 
danger. The two hundred and fifty remaining at Ironton is 
simply the minority of the severe and dangerous cases, while 
the greater number which could bear transportation have gone 
South. 

"They admit their loss in killed to have been four hundred. 
In every battle the ratio of those killed to those wounded is 



3 i8 PILOT KNOB 

from one to three to one to five. On our side the ratio 
is one to three. Apply the same ratio to the rebel killed and 
wounded and we have four hundred killed to twelve hundred 
wounded, which from personal observation, I know to be near 
the truth. 

"Very respectfully, your obdt. servant, 
"T. W. Johnson, 
"A. A. Surgeon, U. S. A. 
"Lieut. H. Hannahs 

"A. A. A. General 

"District, St. Louis." 

If further corroborative testimony is needed 
upon the accuracy of General Ewing's estimate of 
the Confederate loss, it may be found in the let- 
ters given below, all found among the General's pri- 
vate papers, and all written by men qualified by situ- 
ation and observation to make authoritative state- 
ments. 

"Ironton, Mo., October 27, 1864. 
"Brig.-Gen. Thomas Ewing, Jr., 
"St. Louis, Mo. 

"General : 

"Allow me the honor of writing you on a subject that the 
soldiers and loyal citizens of Southeast Missouri dwell upon 
with fond recollection, to wit, the heavy loss of life sustained 
by General Price, of the C. S. A., in his attack on the small 
but devoted command that defended Pilot Knob. I accom- 
panied the expedition sent by Lieut. H. M. Hiller from Cape 
Girardeau, Mo., to bring off our sick and wounded left here 
(Pilot Knob) in hospital at the time you, evacuated. We 
found some 350 or 400 Rebel wounded here that couldn't be 
moved, as the Rebels had moved all but those dangerously or 
mortally wounded, among the number being a great many 
officers. 

"While talking to one, Adjutant Thompson, he wanted to 



SUMMARY 



319 



know of me what I thought their loss was. I told him from 
the wounded and number of pits that their dead were de- 
posited in, that I estimated their loss at 1,000. His reply was 
that they lost 1,500 and these of the best men they had; that 
he was wounded in the last charge on the fort and had as 
good an opportunity of knowing the extent of their loss 
as any man engaged. He also spoke of the recklessness and 
bravery of our men, saying that the determination and cour- 
age displayed by them he had never seen equalled. 
"I am, General, 

"Your Obdt. Servant, 

"Marquis D. Smith, Capt., 

"Co. L, 3rd M. S. M. Cavalry." 

"St. Louis, Dec. 14, 1864. 
"Brig.-Gen. Ewing, 

Comdg. Dist, St. Louis. 
"General : 

"In reply to your inquiry as to the loss of the Rebels at the 
battle of Pilot Knob and my means of information, I would 
state that upon taking possession of that post two weeks after 
its capture I found over two hundred Rebel wounded in the 
hospital at Ironton, and I made every effort to ascertain the 
Rebel loss by inquiry of the Rebel wounded, their surgeons 
and nurses, and of citizens that were at the Knob and in its 
vicinity during the engagement, and remained there after the 
fight. I am of the opinion that three hundred killed and 
twelve hundred wounded and one thousand missing represent 
the Rebel loss. The missing are those that got sick of fight- 
ing, and the night after the battle left and returned to their 
homes in Arkansas and Missouri. 

"Many citizens at the Knob and in that vicinity estimate 
the enemy's loss at a much higher figure, but, from all the 
information that I could collect, I think that my estimate is 
nearer correct and is, at least, a safe estimate. 

"Very respectfully, your obdt. servant, 
"H. H. Williams, 
"Maj. 10th Reg. Kas. Vet. Vols. 



3-20 PILOT KNOB 

"Pilot Knob, Mo., December 14, 1864. 
"Brig.-Gen. Thomas Ewing, Jr., 

"Dear General: 

"Since my assignment to the command of this post, I have, 
as a matter of historical interest, taken considerable pains to 
gather information from the various sources within my reach, 
concerning the memorable conflict of the 27th of September, 
1864, in which it was my good fortune to serve under your 
gallant leadership in the defense of Fort Davidson, at this 
place. 

"The results of that conflict in casualties to the Rebel 
army which besieged us have, — in consequence of the evacua- 
tion by your command of the fort after the hotly contested 
and brilliantly won day, and the subsequent occupation of the 
surrounding region by the enemy for several weeks, — re- 
mained shrouded in doubt. 

"And while speaking of the evacuation, I recall to mind the 
consultation held between you and your officers concerning 
the feasibility of the attempt to evacuate, in which we were all 
opposed to the project; and as one of those who could see no 
reasonable ground to hope for success in the attempt, I make 
my acknowledgment of your superior judgment, in view of 
the remarkable success which attended your plan. 

"I have carefully examined the vicinity of the battlefield 
for several miles around and have found many bodies of the 
Rebel dead yet unburied ; and, in addition to this, I have had 
numerous returns made to me by parties of soldiers, hospital 
attendants, and citizens, who buried the dead of the battle 
while this place was nominally in possession of the Rebels. 
From these channels I gather that Sterling Price did not bury 
over one-third of the number of his troops who were killed 
on the field. His neglect to do so was owing in part to his 
systematic habit of disregarding the principles of humanity 
even in the treatment of his own men when disabled in serv- 
ice, and also in part to the fact that, as his large army com- 
pletely encircled our little stronghold, our artillery had a 
wide range and strewed the mountain sides, the valleys, and 



SUMMARY 321 

the forests within a radius of a mile and a half or two miles 
with Rebel dead, which it was impossible for him to collect 
and 1 bury in the short time he remained here with his army. 
He simply contented himself with burying the greater portion 
of the bodies lying close to the fort. Even this work was not 
done perfectly, as several bodies were left lying within twenty 
or thirty feet of the fort when his army had marched on in 
its plundering and murdering career. 

"I have also conversed freely, from time to time, with 
Colonel Thomas of the Rebel army, who lies in the I ronton 
hospital, a prisoner in our hands, recovering from a severe 
wound. He is the chief of staff of the Rebel Major-General 
Fagan, and was in the thickest of the battle, where he dis- 
played great coolness and courage. It is seldom that I have 
found, during the present war, a Rebel officer at once so 
frank and so intelligent as Colonel Thomas. From him I 
have learned many facts concerning the battle, which are new 
to me, and will also be, I presume, to you. Besides, I have 
gleaned from the other wounded Rebel prisoners numerous 
interesting details. Colonel Thomas remarked to me that the 
battle of Pilot Knob was one of the severest engagements of 
the war, in which our loss was small and the loss of his own 
army terrible ; and he speaks in unmeasured terms of the gal- 
lantry of yourself and the stout defense your command made 
of the fort. 

"From all these means of information, General, I have been 
enabled to make the following estimate, in round numbers, of 
the Rebel loss in the defense of Fort Davidson, which, con- 
sidering that our loss was less than a hundred in all, — killed, 
wounded and missing, — from the attack on the day preceding 
the battle to your safe arrival at Rolla, cannot fail to speak 
for you and those who fought and fell more expressively than 
any eulogiums which the flattering pen of the chronicler may 
be kindly disposed to indite. To these figures you can proudly 
point, and upon them your subaltern comrades may rely to do 
them whatever justice shall be denied them from any quarter. 

Buried by citizens and soldiers since 450 

Buried by the enemy on the 28th, about 200 



322 PILOT KNOB 

Died of wounds, and fatal cases now in hospital. 175 

Disabled by wounds, and surviving 300 

Slightly wounded 400 

1,525 
"I am, General, 

"Yours very truly, 
"A. W. Maupin, 

"Lt-Col. 47th Mo. Vols." 

Various estimates were made of the losses of 
General E wing's command, several of which have 
already been quoted during the course of this nar- 
rative. Owing to the cutting off of several small 
detachments from the main body at different 
times, some of which eventually escaped capture, 
it is exceedingly difficult to form an accurate esti- 
mate of the Union loss in missing, or to segregate 
the losses of this class which properly belong to 
the battle of Pilot Knob itself. However, as re- 
ported by General Ewing, his loss in men who were 
actually captured and paroled during the fighting 
at Pilot Knob and the subsequent retreat doubtless 
did not exceed fifty. As for the loss in killed and 
wounded in the battle of September 27th, 1864, 
the Secretaries of the Pilot Knob Memorial Asso- 
ciation, at the annual meeting of that Association, 
held in old Fort Davidson on September 27th, 
1906, reported a nominal list of killed and wounded 
which had been prepared after six years of pains- 
taking research, — a research in which every exist- 
ing source of information was utilized. This list, 



SUMMARY 323 

which may be taken as absolutely accurate, shows 
a loss of fourteen killed on the field, one miss- 
ing, — never accounted for and probably murdered, 
— fourteen mortally wounded, and forty-four 
wounded but not mortally ; total casualties, seventy- 
three. 

From the foregoing figures it may be seen that 
the army of General Price suffered a loss more than 
twenty times as great as it inflicted upon its op- 
ponents; that it was, in fact, decimated or worse, 
and that, proportionately, every ten men of Gen- 
eral Ewing's command killed or put out of action 
fifteen Confederates in that single day's battle. 
Such a loss, fifty per cent, greater than the total 
number of the force which inflicted it, was surely 
enough to produce in General Price and his fol- 
lowers that sense of discouragement which, coupled 
with the sacrifice of precious time, proved fatal 
to all his plans for the conquest of Missouri. 

Even if the nominal victory at Pilot Knob be 
conceded to the Confederates in view of the fact 
that they remained in possession of the battlefield, 
the truth still is that this barren triumph was 
achieved at fearful and unusual cost of blood. In 
the first battle of Bull Run, one of the most famous 
and momentous conflicts in American history, the 
Confederates paid for victory with a loss of only 
1,965 men, killed and wounded. "Stonewall" 
Jackson, in his wonderful Valley Campaign of 



324 PILOT KNOB 

1862, lost but two hundred and sixty-five killed, 
and 1,570 wounded on the six fields which he fought 
and won between May 8th and June 9th: Mc- 
Dowell, Front Royal, Winchester, Harrisonburg, 
Cross Keys, and Port Republic. Comparing the 
loss in killed and wounded at Pilot Knob with 
those of the victors in any other of the principal 
battles fought west of the Mississippi during the 
Civil War, the sanguinary character of this little 
known engagement becomes yet more striking. 
The victorious Federals lost 1,183 killed and 
wounded at Pea Ridge, 988 at Prairie Grove, 1,032 
at Arkansas Post, 203 at Helena, and 800 at Pleas- 
ant Hill. The victorious Confederates lost at Wil- 
son's Creek 1,065 an ^ at Sabine Cross Roads 1,500, 
while even General Holmes' bloody repulse at 
Helena, Ark., July 4th, 1863, cost him only 818 
killed and wounded. 2 It is evident, therefore, that 
the battle of Pilot Knob, long neglected by his- 
torians and now almost forgotten, save by a few, 
deserves to stand amid the crowding events of the 
American Civil War as one of the greatest as well as 
one of the most decisive conflicts of the terrible in- 
ternecine struggle of a half century ago. 

2 The statistics given above are from "Regimental Losses in 
the American Civil War/' by William F. Fox, Lt.-Col. U. S. V. 
(Albany, N. Y. Joseph McDonough, 1898.) 



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